#about ginny's struggles at the same time

[sukibenders]

The Ginny and Georgia fandom can often feel representative of the real world, specifically how certain parent/child relationships end up with the excusing of a parent's sacrifices being hung over the child's head, but never really allowing the child themselves to have their own problems because of it, otherwise they're being "ungrateful". And this rhetoric continuously shines through with how some Georgia fans talk about Ginny. They constantly belittle her and her problems (especially her self harm), call her dramatic for wanting answers from her mother, but never call out Georgia for overstepping Ginny's boundaries and reading her private diary, defending it by saying "Well, she partakes in reckless behavior and she keeps secrets too." Who do you think she learned it from? Like these specific fans will find ways to defend every act Georgia does under the guise of it being a "sacrifice", but can't even do the same for Ginny, a teenager who spent most of her life being uprooted before she could even make a place her home? Who had to deal with her parents' financial struggles (which caused her to be bullied mind you) on top of their tumultuous relationship?

It's also not lost on me how, during that episode where Georgia came to Ginny's therapy session, in which the whole point was to address why Ginny is the way she is, these particular fans sought every opportunity they could to villainize, not only, Ginny but her therapist as well. Especially when the therapist brought up how Georgia, as a white woman, might not be able to fully understand the struggles that her, biracial, daughter might experience/go through (like, what made her think dressing up as Scarlett O'Hara would not sit some type of way with Ginny?). Again, this session was to help Ginny, but these fans, not only, dismiss the very valid racial conversation taking place but fed into Georgia making the situation about herself. This is a big reason why I don't take people seriously when they say that they hate Ginny and criticize everything she does, but love Georgia and are ready to defend everything she does.

[mssorceressupreme]

Truth or Dare | F.W

———

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Summary: Fred realises his true feelings for you once you are dared to french kiss George during a round of truth or dare. Draco then forces you to kiss him instead, which only results in a brawl. You then take Fred back to the common room and help clean his wounds.

Warnings/tags: violence/fighting, jealous!fred, kissing, non-con touch, Draco being a git (sorry malfoy lovers 😭), cleaning wounds after a fight trope, reader isn't in a specified house here, spicy ending (if u squint)

———

The Ravenclaw common room had never seen a gathering quite like this. The enchanted blue flames flickered in the fireplace, casting a radiant glow over the room, which today, was packed with students from all four houses.

Luna had invited everyone over, claiming that a “spontaneous social gathering” would be a great way to pass the time and forget about your studies for a while.

The usual gryffindor group, Cedric and some hufflepuffs, the slytherin trio and Cho, all decided to partake in this gathering.

And so, there you all were, sitting in a large, chaotic circle on the floor, playing a game of truth or dare that had long spiralled out of control.

The rules were simple: if you refused a dare or a truth, you had to take Veritaserum and spill your deepest, darkest secret in front of everyone. No one wanted to risk that.

So far, Harry had been dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, which led to him—rather sheepishly—kissing Ginny, earning a gag from Ron. But moments later, Ron found himself a stuttering mess when Hermione had been dared to sit on his lap for two rounds, her face burning red while he struggled to keep his cool.

Neville, poor thing, had been forced to recount an embarrassing moment where he tripped down an entire staircase in front of his crush, which turned out alright anyway because they went to Madam Pomfrey together and spent the whole day chatting.

And now, it was your turn.

Draco, who sat beside you, leaned in with a smug grin. “Alright Y/N, let’s make this interesting,” he drawled. “I dare you to French kiss the person sitting across from you.”

You turned your head, your stomach flipping.

And there sat George Weasley, grinning at you like he had already won.

The room erupted into cheers, and George wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “Well, Y/N, I won’t say no,” he teased, leaning back on his hands.

Your heart sank a little—not because George was a bad choice, but because you wished it was his twin instead.

Still, rules were rules.

Taking a deep breath, you stood up and took slow tentative steps across the large circle, kneeling in front of George. “Alright Georgie, just get it over with,” you muttered, cheeks burning.

George chuckled. “Hey! At least pretend to be excited.”

You rolled your eyes, chuckling lightly, before leaning in, pressing your lips to his. He kissed you back easily, bringing a hand to your neck, letting it linger a moment longer than necessary before you pulled away, flustered.

George gave you a grin then winked, and you smiled back. He was one of your closest friends, after all; teasing you came naturally to him.

"Okay that's done!" Flustered, you rose up and hurried back to your spot next to Draco.

"You guys are adorable." Cho, who was sitting on the other side of you, nudged you gently, and you laughed nervously.

Sure, George was handsome, humorous, and kind, but he wasn't Fred. To most people, they were pretty much the same person, two halves of a whole, but to you, it was different. There was something about Fred that you saw differently.

Speaking of Fred, you shot a quick glance in his direction, curious as to his whole reaction regarding the scene that just unfolded.

Fred hadn’t said a word.

He sat stiffly, arms crossed, his jaw tight as he glared at his twin. Something in his chest twisted when he saw George’s smug grin.

But it wasn't entirely George's fault. You see, no one knew of Fred's secret crush on you. Would you call it a crush? Man, feelings were a complicated mystery to Fred, he never bothered going down that lane, it was foreign to him. Best avoid all that sappy stuff, y'know.

Draco, however, was unimpressed. “That was pathetic,” he scoffed, leaning closer to you. “You call that a French kiss? It had to be longer.”

You folded your arms, tilting your head to the side. “You didn’t even say how long.”

Draco smirked. “Fine, then, two minutes. You can do it on me instead. Save you the hassle of walking over there again."

The room let out a collective “ooooh,” and your stomach churned.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Crabbe, Goyle and Dean chanted.

"Wha—I already did the dare!" You countered, raising your hands in defence.

"Hmm now that Draco mentioned it, it was a bit of a short kiss, barely a French kiss, more like a Portuguese kiss." Lee agreed, resting his hand on his chin.

"Portuguese kiss? That's not even a thing you git." Angelina chortled, throwing her head back.

Before you could react, Draco leaned in slightly, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from your face. His fingers barely grazed your cheek, but it was enough to make you shift uncomfortably. He patted your head, smiling like he was doing you some kind of favour.

You didn’t like it.

But Draco was your friend, and this was supposed to be fun, so you ignored it. You didn't want to ruin the mood for everyone so you forced yourself to tolerate it.

Fred, however, wasn’t ignoring it.

His hand was clenched into a tight fist in his lap, and his usually mischievous eyes were laced with something entirely different.

Draco leaned in again, wrapping one arm around you. “Come on, then,” he murmured, his smirk widening. “Or do you want the Veritaserum?”

Your stomach twisted uncomfortably. You didn’t want to kiss him. But you definitely didn’t want to take the serum, either.

Draco took your hesitation as an invitation. “Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’re scared.”

The crowd cheered again, urging you on.

Draco removed his arm then ruffled your hair slightly, "Don't be a wuss, I'll make it enjoyable for ya."

"Don't be scared Y/N, it's only a kiss!" Seamus encouraged, hoping to make you feel better, but it only made you feel worse.

Only a kiss? You wanted to save french kissing for someone special, not some ridiculous dare.

Draco leaned closer, nuzzling his nose into your neck. His hand brushed against your arm, he was so close that you could now smell his fresh scent. You leaned back instinctively, smiling awkwardly while brushing your arm.

Everyone was so caught up encouraging the two of you to kiss that no one paid attention to the speed at which Fred stood up from the floor and bolted to Draco, tackling him harshly.

A collective gasp echoed through the room as the two of them crashed onto the floor. Draco barely had time to react before Fred punched him, his face twisted in pure rage. The two of them were now in a brawl, wrestling each other on the ground. It was clear that no one was going easy on each other.

“Keep your hands off her,” Fred snapped, his voice low and furious.

Draco, stunned for only a second, sneered up at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

"Fred! Oi! Stop, it's just a game!" Lee's attempt at stopping Fred with his words was useless.

Fred wasn’t listening. His fists clenched, his breathing heavy as he pinned Draco down, gripping his shirt harshly.

Draco’s smirk returned. “Merlin, are you jealous Weasley?”

Fred loosened his grip, blinking slowly, "I..."

"Called it. Bet you wished it was you getting to french kiss Y/N then. Why don't you let me finish my dare with her so I can show you how it's done eh?" Draco remarked, all too obnoxiously for Fred's liking.

Fred's eyes grew darker, laced with furiousness.

He lunged again, and in a matter of seconds, they were full-on fighting.

Gasps and shouts filled the room as they tumbled, fists flying, knocking over a pile of books and scattering cards from an abandoned wizarding chess game. The flood thudded heavily, as they continued their wrestling.

“Fred! Draco! Stop!” Voices pleaded, but they were drowned out as Fred was blinded by rage. How dare Draco force himself onto you like that?!

No one listened.

You watched them in pure horror as they fought; you joined the others in yelling at them to stop, but none of them listened.

Hermione immediately went to comfort you, placing a comforting hand on your arm and sending you an apologetic look. Was this all because of you? You felt like shit for causing this, bloody hell, you should've just french kissed Draco.

“Merlin’s beard, Fred, stop!” George tried pulling his twin back, but Fred shook him off, shoving him away.

Cedric attempted to pull Draco off Fred, but Draco pushed him aside, scoffing, "Not now Diggory!"

Draco, despite being an arrogant prat, was also a decent fighter, and he managed to shove Fred back, wiping a bit of blood from his lip.

“What the hell?!” you finally yelled, eyes darting from Fred to Draco.

Fred froze.

His furious gaze met yours, his chest rising and falling heavily, as he wiped some blood off his lips.

He swallowed hard. Then, without a word, he turned and stormed out of the common room.

You hesitated only a second before running after him.

—

You found him on the astronomy tower balcony, leaning against the railing, gripping it so tightly his knuckles were white.

The night air was cold, but Fred’s skin was burning.

You took a deep breath. “Fred—”

“Why don’t you go check on Draco?” he cut in sharply. “Or George. Your boyfriends.”

Your brows furrowed. “They’re not my boyfriends. You're being ridiculous now.”

Fred let out a short, humourless laugh. “Really? You were getting pretty cozy with George back there.”

You sighed. “It was a dare, Fred.”

“Oh, and Draco just happened to be all over you?” He turned to face you, and that’s when you saw it—his bruised lip, the cut on his cheekbone, the faint traces of blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Come on, I know we're friends but I can handle myself." You assumed he was being protective as a friend, so you attempted comforting him, but failed miserably at doing so.

"Yeah, friends." He pressed his lips together.

You took a step closer wanting to reach up, but Fred’s eyes flickered elsewhere. “Don’t.”

You froze.

“I don’t need you feeling bad for me,” he muttered, turning back to the railing. His grip tightened. “I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity, Fred,” you said softly.

Silence stretched between you. The wind howled through the tower, whipping his hair slightly, but Fred didn’t move.

Your gaze drifted to his hands. His knuckles were raw, bruised from the fight.

Without thinking, you reached out, gently prying one of his fists open. He held his breath, glancing down at you.

Your fingers traced the swelling on his knuckles, your touch featherlight. “We need to clean this up.”

Fred didn’t protest. He just stood there, his jaw clenched, watching you. He released his breath, silently agreeing.

Wordlessly, you pulled his hand in yours, leading him down the spiral staircase, away from the cold, away from the fight, away from everyone else.

—

The fire crackled softly in the Gryffindor common room, casting flickering shadows on the walls. The common room was empty—everyone was either asleep or still in the Ravenclaw tower, talking about what had happened.

Fred sat on the couch, his arms resting on his knees, his head tilted slightly downward. He hadn’t said much since you dragged him back.

You returned from the bathroom with a damp cloth and knelt in front of him.

“Hold still,” you murmured, gently dabbing at the dried blood on his lip.

Fred flinched at the contact but didn’t pull away. He just watched you, his hazel eyes unreadable, though there was a glimmer of something, awe, perhaps. His eyes studied yours, the way your eyebrows furrowed as you focused on cleaning his wounds. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, you were the epitome of beauty in his eyes, a darling angel.

You focused on cleaning him up, biting your lip. The silence between you was begging to be broken, heavy with something left unsaid. But you chose to ignore it, shifting your focus to getting Fred cleaned up. You see, it was the way you were always so caring towards everyone, so kind, always selflessly giving your time away to help those who needed it. That was part of the reason Fred had fallen for you in the first place, your kindness.

Fred exhaled sharply as you pressed on his wound.

"Sorry..." you mutter, but he gently removed your arm, and rested it on his knee.

“I don’t know how to stop this,” he said suddenly.

You paused, looking up at him. “Stop what?”

He let out a cheerless laugh. “This. You. Making me feel like a complete idiot.”

Your heart pace increased. “I—”

“Do you know what it’s like?” His voice was raw, unfiltered, a slight rasp as he spoke softly. “Watching you? Seeing every guy in that room touch you? Kiss you?” He shook his head. “I nearly lost my mind.”

You swallowed hard, unable to tear your gaze away.

“Never thought I'd admit it, but I’ve wanted you,” his voice low, almost trembling. “For so long, and I—” He broke off, exhaling harshly. “And then tonight, I had to sit there and watch it. Merlin, it drove me so bloody mad.”

Your hands were shaking. Was this it? The Fred you never thought would ever return your feelings, about to spew the words right out?

Fred’s eyes locked onto yours, something desperate behind this gaze.

“I hate that you don’t see it,” he muttered.

“See what?” you breathed.

His lips parted, and for a second, he hesitated.

“That I love you.”

Your breath caught, inhaling as you paused.

Fred let out a rough laugh, running a hand through his hair. “Godric, I love you. I don’t just like you, I love you. And it kills me because I know you don’t feel the same way so I just thought I'd keep it to myself but here we are."

Your heartbeat felt as though it was pounding loud enough to wake up the whole dorm.

“You idiot,” you whispered.

Fred blinked. “What?”

“You idiot,” you repeated, your voice shaking. Then, before he could react, you leaned forward and pressed your lips against his with all the emotion you've held back, the words you've been dying to say to him.

It was nothing like the kiss with George.

This was everything.

Fred let out a soft, startled sound before his hands found your waist, pulling you closer, as if he had been waiting for this moment forever. His lips moved against yours, desperate, breathless. He kissed you like he had something to prove, like he needed you to know how much he meant it.

And you did.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, getting up from kneeling and he pulled you onto his lap, now straddling him in the common room, to which you were thankful that no one was around.

A soft moan escaped you, as he sucked on your lower lip, your hands tangled themselves in his fluffy hair, tugging lightly.

When you finally pulled back, both of you breathless, you whispered, “I love you too.”

Fred let out a quiet, shaky laugh, resting his forehead against yours. “You better.” He teased.

You rolled your eyes, and he grinned.

“Oh, shut up,” you muttered, kissing him again as if there was no tomorrow. He smiled into the kiss, desperately needing a round two with you, his Y/N.

[juicydangler]

for your halloween playlist consideration:

The Man with X-Ray Eyes by Bauhaus, inspired by the 1963 science fiction horror film X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes

I Was a Teenage Werewolf by The Cramps, inspired by the 1957 science fiction horror film of the same name

Lotion by the Greenskeepers, inspired by the 1991 psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs

How Do by Sneaker Pimps, inspired by the 1973 folk horror film The Wicker Man

Nosferatu by Blue Öyster Cult, inspired by the 1922 silent horror film of the same name

Frankenstein by Rock Bottom, inspired by the 1931 horror film of the same name

Frankenstein Rock by Eddie Thomas, about taking a date to see horror movies

Nasty by The Damned, about horror movies on VHS

Bela Lugosi's Dead by Bauhaus, about legendary actor Bela Lugosi not being alive anymore

Boris the Spider by The Who, about a spider called Boris

October Funeral by The Cemetery Boys, about a funeral in October

Cemetery Gates by Pantera, about the struggle to let go when someone you love dies

Cemetery Girl by ICP, about the struggle to let go when someone you love dies

Dig Up Her Bones by the Misfits, about the struggle to let go when someone you love dies

L.I.C.H. by Ginny Di, about a lady who doesn't want to die

Party In the Graveyard by Ghost Town, about knowing you will die and having a silly little time with it

thegraveneverfeltsonice by aWannabe, about knowing you will die and lowkey looking forward to it

Spirit Got Lost by Mental As Anything, about being dead and ambivalent about it

Zombie Crew by Send More Paramedics, about being a punk rock zombie

Nobody Likes You (When You're Dead) by Zombina and the Skeletones, about the social challenges faced by a young zombie

Re: Your Brains by Jonathan Coulton, about the social challenges faced by a white collar zombie

Mad Professor by ICP, about making friends

Ur-Ur-Enkel von Frankenstein by Frank Zander, about making friends (in German)

Hex So Heavy by Bambie Thug, about revenge, and how two enemies used to be friends

Nightmare by Brainbug, spooky techno instrumental

The Dead Eyes Opened (1994 remix) by Severed Heads, inspired by reporting around the real life 1924 murder of Emily Kaye

A Forest by The Cure, about a spooky forest

The Greatest Show Unearthed by Creature Feature, about a spooky carnival

Scaretale by Nightwish, about a spooky fairy tale carnival

Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish, about the POV of the monster under the bed

Boogie Woogie Wu by ICP, about the POV of the boogie man

Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart, not about vampires (unless sound engineers count) but really kinda sounds like it is

I.C.U. by Caligula, about vampires

Night of the Vampire by Roky Erickson and The Aliens, about vampires

Transylvanian Concubine by Rasputina, about vampires

Vampires In Love by Marvelous 3, about vampires (in love)

Danse Vampyr by Inkubus Sukkubus, about vampires (horny)

We Suck Young Blood by Radiohead, about vampires but only as a metaphor

Teeth by Lady Gaga, about sex but sounds like it could be about vampires or maybe werewolves

Bare Your Teeth by Ashbury Heights, about going feral werewolf style

The Ones by Aesthetic Perfection, about nightmare creatures stealing teeth

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by the Damned, inspired by the 1886 Gothic novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Nevermore by The Cemetery Boys, about the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe

Graveyard Picnic by Voltaire, about the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe

Mr Raven by MC Lars, based on the poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Legs and Tarpaulin by Cinema Strange, inspired by the story King Pest by Edgar Allan Poe

Pet Sematary by Ramones, written during a visit to the home of Stephen King and inspired by his 1983 horror novel of the same name

Cemetery by Silverchair, about ennui

Living Dead by Marina and the Diamonds, about ennui

Living Dead by Discordia, about being a disenfranchised young person (I think)

Black No. 1 by Type O Negative, about a goth gf

Release the Bats by The Birthday Party, about a goth gf

Tombstone by Peaches, probably about sex somehow lbr it's Peaches, but sounds like it could be about a goth gf

Every Day Is Halloween by Ministry, about being a goth

I Can Tell You Shop At Hot(t) Topic by The Gothsicles, about seeing a goth

You've Been GOTH BLOCKED by Stevie Ryan, about seeing too many goths

Mephiskapheles by Mephiskapheles, about what if Satan played ska

Des Satans liebster Klingelton by Soko Friedhof, about what if Satan sold ringtones (in German)

Janet's Potato Salad by Cupcake Television, about what if Satanists held a potluck

Satan by Orbital and Kirk Hammett, not about anything just a guy yelling Satan a lot (it's a sample of Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers from the song Sweat Loaf but let's not get bogged down in details here)

Creep in the Cellar by Butthole Surfers, about a weird scary guy

Abwärts-Nick Nack Man Now by Frank Zander, about being a weird scary guy (in German)

Gravedigger by MXMS, about being a weird scary girl

Innsmouth by Aural Vampire, about being a weird scary girl (in Japanese)

When You're Evil by Voltaire, about being an evil guy and having a silly little time with it

Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathan Coulton, about being an evil guy and having an unrequited crush

Frankenstein Rock by Peter Thomas (no relation), about a scary guy called Frankenstein and the creepy parties he throws (in German)

HAUNT ME by Johnny Goth, about hoping to be haunted, sexually

Ghost of a Texas Ladies' Man by Concrete Blonde, about being haunted, sexually

Ghost Story by Charming Disaster, about being haunted, sexually

One Second Ghost by The Gothsicles, about retro video gaming

Flying Saucer Boogie by Eddie Cletro, about UFO sightings

Unmarked Helicopters by Soul Coughing (from The X-Files S04E18), about UFO conspiracies

Can't Get Abducted E.T. Don't Dig Me Blues by Bruce Brown, about getting swerved by aliens

Bugs by Pearl Jam, about being overwhelmed by bugs

March of the Sinister Ducks by The Sinister Ducks, about how ducks are sinister

the entire 1998 album Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International by Rob Zombie

literally anything other than Zombie by the Cranberries

[anxiousnerdwritings]

I was thinking the same thing about the Shelbys lmao !!!

I headcanon'ed that Percy was the one to emotionally raise Weasley!Reader because the Reader is the absolute youngest of the seven sons so Molly overlooked him as she fussed over Ginny and tried to straighten out the Twins or chased after Ron and Harry Potter for so many years and Arthur was to busy with work but Percy saw they were special and could really be something one day and didn't want it squandered by bad influences and poverty.

Percy graduated the summer Weasley!Reader got the letter and had already started at the Ministry of Magic but picked up a second, side job to save up money so Weasley!Reader wouldn't have to go to school with hand-me-downs.

It drives jealousy in Ron and the Twins but Percy merely reasons that the hand-me-downs were literally falling apart by the time they got to Weasley!Reader and Molly tries to peace-keep by asking why Percy wouldn't spread the money around so each child could get one or two things new instead of just the Reader and Percy looks blankly before repeating himself, stating that he wouldn't have his son brother go to school with supplies that are literally falling apart because they've seen seven other siblings and, once again, are literally falling apart, woman do you hate your sons that much?

And that's just how it goes each following year, Percy taking Weasley!Reader shopping no matter how much Molly tries to fix the hand-me-downs. He does bring the others gifts during holidays and birthdays but it becomes clear to the older siblings the Percy dotes on Weasley!Reader like a father would and they sort of just observe for a time and realize that Molly neglects the Reader emotionally, maybe even becoming mean sometimes because of the summer shopping sprees, and Percy is the one stepping in for the Reader so they don't really say anything about it anymore

One summer when puberty hits Weasley!Reader like a hexed broomstick, Percy takes his boy to a designer clothing place and buys him an outrageously expensive fitted, three-piece suit, waving off the costs because at this point he's raising high in the Ministry of Magic, surpassing their father, in both position and pay, so it's okay.

"Stick with me, brother, and you'll have a higher standard of life one day too."

And despite Percy blaming Lestrange!OC!Daughter for corrupting Weasley!Reader it was really this moment right here that drove the Reader into becoming a criminal because it was fast, easy and fun money.

Lestrange!OC!Daughter makes him stop wearing English suits and instead start wearing French suits once they become romantically involved since she's French. He still wears the original suit Percy bought him from time to time though. And the higher ups the work with him are always adoring beautiful French or Italian suits because it becomes like an unspoken dress code.

Fleur always compliments criminal!Weasley whenever seen in the French suits, maybe even recognizing the craftsmanship and complimenting his taste although she rotates between fluent French and broken English and then gets ten times more excited when criminal!Weasley responds in perfect French with the hopes of easing her anxiety a bit as she struggles to get her point out, maybe even with a Parisian accent, because his beloved taught him, and it makes Molly ten times angrier, especially when Fleur and Lestrange only exclusively speak to each other in French, forming a strong alliance because of Molly's obvious dislike of both of them.

I could even imagine Weasley!Reader being Ginny’s twin, therefore adding even more to him being neglected in favor of his sister. But he and Ginny are very close and even she hates how their mother doesn’t even look twice at the Reader cause she’s so focused on Ginny. I also, really love the idea of Percy basically raising the Reader, mainly emotionally but I could see him picking up the slack when Molly takes to rocking baby!ginny more then she does baby!Reader. Or Percy stepping in to take over baby!Reader’s nightly feedings cause Molly has all her attention on baby!Ginny and ensuring she gets taken care of first cause she’s her precious babygirl and Arthur is working a late night. Just the thought of Percy feeling a desperate need to take on physically caring for his youngest baby brother because he can’t trust his mother not to forget about the Reader cause she has such tunnel vision on finally having her babygirl. Percy literally ends up raising the Reader himself through a majority of his upbringing and even then Molly doesn’t acknowledge it.

I could imagine Percy going as far as opening an entire secret vault at Gringotts just for the money he’s already saved for the Reader and continues to save for his precious youngest baby brother who deserves to have something for himself. Whereas the Reader takes up being a criminal to financially provide for his entire family, Percy takes to working himself to the bone for his youngest brother and he happily goes about it too.

Percy spoiling the Reader whenever he can meanwhile the Reader has never asked him for anything, Percy just freely gives it to him case it’s what he wants his brother to have. He knows his brother is special, special in a way that only Percy can see and he fully intends to make way for his brother to fucking shine. Now that doesn’t mean Percy doesn’t love and care for his other siblings because of course he does, but the Reader is different. The Reader needs him more than any of the rest of their siblings ever have and Percy will be damned if he isn’t there for him.

I could see Weasley!Reader maybe coming to a point of realizing what all Percy has done for him and wanting to repay him so he ends up doing some illegal stuff to get the money to do something nice for his older brother for once and becoming addicted to how easy and fun it was in the end. Given how much younger the Reader is in this scenario I could see his reasoning to becoming a criminal being a bit more selfish, like there’s still a part of him that wants to support his family but not so much his mother or father, only his siblings. Like, If they need anything the Reader would happily help them out cause he has the means to in more ways then one, but if Molly especially needed something the Reader wouldn’t be moving too fast, if at all, to lend a helping hand.

Also, I could wholeheartedly see Percy taking the Reader out of the Burrow once he’s graduated and saved up enough money to get a small flat or something where he and the Reader can live comfortably. At this point, Percy has just taken it upon himself to care for the Reader entirely so that’s exactly what he’s going to do. When Percy inevitably finds out about the Reader’s criminal activities I could see there being a moment of him asking himself where he went wrong in being up his youngest sibling. He’d blame himself entirely for doing something wrong for the Reader to end up down this path. But then the Reader divulges the whole entirety of the empire he’s built himself and it’s then that Percy realizes that no he didn’t go wrong, he didn’t go wrong at all. Percy would still become very involved in the Reader’s business as said before. He’ll utilize his power and position in the Ministry after so many years of moving up the ladder to further aid and protect his brother all the more.

I absolutely love the idea of Lestrange!Daughter, Bellatrix, Fleur, Narcissa and Andromeda all conversing in French together, especially when Molly is around cause she knows damn well they’re all taking shit about her and they very much are doing just that. It would enrage Molly all the more when the Reader joins the conversations, talking in fluent French that she didn’t even know he knew. At first she thinks the Reader is defending her and their family from the French speaking women but eventually she comes to the conclusion that that’s not what’s happening at all. It certainly doesn’t help that when she asks the Reader what they all were talking about he always answers with something vague, and she knows full well that’s bullshit.

I think Lestrange!Daughter and Fleur would be very good friends, even if they don’t really interact too much outside of the family but they most definitely gang up when they’re around Molly. Also, I think Weasley!Reader would be very close to Fleur in a platonic way of course. After all he was probably the first one in the family to truly befriend her when she got into a relationship with Bill and not judge or hate her like his mother and sister did. But he also wasn’t completely captivated with her because of her being part Veela either, fortunately cause he already had Lestrange!Daughter by his side.

[iamnmbr3]

Canon wise and as far as we know from ginny in 7th book, how does she react to breaking up with harry or even drarry?

Oooh! This is an interesting question. Because here's the thing. There's the way she reacts in front of Harry...and then the way she apparently reacts when he's not around.

So in book 6 he breaks up with her and she's basically just like '...k' and doesn't bother Harry with inconvenient things like feelings or having a different opinion from him.

Listen. It's good to have loved ones who support you. But the way in book 6 and 7 Ginny just never disagrees with Harry or argues with him or even makes him feel awkward or bad or inconvenienced and is just utterly compliant feels off. Here the thing he likes is that she just accepts his decision. Because it's easy and simple. But that feels like her putting on a front. A healthy and good relationship is more than one person just accepting what the other does. Sometimes if you love someone that means having hard conversations with them or telling them something they don't like.

Look at how often Hermione disagrees with Harry or calls him out when she thinks he's making a bad choice. Because she cares about him. And sure sometimes Harry disagrees with her or even gets annoyed with her. But he also respects her. And they work it out because they have a very deep and authentic and loving friendship where they can disagree and show their feelings to each other and argue etc. Same with Hermione and Ron or Harry and Ron.

In fact, same with Harry and Ginny in book 5 where Ginny DOES express opinions and stand up to Harry. But not in book 6 or 7. Suddenly she has a total personality change and is creepily determined to become whoever she has to in order to win Harry's affections even though it's all a lie and she has to repress everything about herself.

It's also notable in this scene that she doesn't cry. This makes things easy on Harry and lets him avoid an uncomfortable situation. But as we'll see momentarily it's not actually reflective of her emotional state. You should feel comfortable enough around someone to show them your feelings, even if it's awkward or inconvenient. And she doesn't. We get this in book 6:

And then in book 7 we get this:

So based on all these quotes we might imagine that Ginny's fine with the breakup or perhaps even unaffected. But no. Apparently away from Harry it's a whole different story. Apparently she is devastated and really struggling to cope with the whole thing.

After that book 7 scene we learn this from Ron:

We NEVER see Ginny being "really cut up" at all. But apparently Ron did. Because Ginny felt comfortable enough around her brother to express her actual feelings. But she never felt comfortable doing this with Harry. That's not a good sign for their relationship.

Hermione cries around Harry. And in book 7 Harry actually feels comfortable comforting her even though it's something that doesn't come naturally. She also feels comfortable sharing her emotions with Ron - whether bickering or here, in book 6 when she and Ron comfort each other in stark contrast to Ginny apparently holding in tears around Harry to avoid doing anything he doesn't like:

So yeah. Imho hinny is doomed. I think it's realistic that it happened but I think it was more lust than love on Harry's part and also wanting to have some normalcy during a very stressful time. And for Ginny I think it was more fangirl awe than real love.

I think after the war it's plausible that they keep meaning to get together again but somehow never do. After the battle Harry thinks he'll talk to Ginny about everything later but somehow later never comes. Meanwhile Ginny finds that when she wants to talk about what happened at Hogwarts during 7th year she's gravitating more to Neville who was beside her all along (yeah there's my ginny/neville shipper brain coming out). And I think kind of like Harry and Cho they just sort of fall apart. If they DO get back together then of course I think the breakup is worse.

Either way Harry's really worried that he'll lose the Weasleys over it. He doesn't of course, but things between him and Ginny are awkward for a while. Eventually they both end up with other people and once Ginny is in a happy relationship of her own - and realizes how much better things are than when she was with Harry - things get easier.

[sideprince]

I would love to hear your opinions about the sexist tropes that are so present in the hp movies (like what they did to Hermione and Molly in making them these “harpy” like women vs how they appear in the books)!

WELL OK IF YOU INSIST

From the outset there's a weak foundation to female representation in the HP films, because the books already have a narrow and prescriptive definition of acceptable ways to enact womanhood. It's important to put this into context, though, and remember that it was considered progressive at the time the books were written, especially in Britain (and that British feminism has its own philosophies that don't necessarily align with North American feminism).

There's a very "not like other girls" approach Rowling (boo, hiss) has to girls Harry's age who the reader is meant to like. Hermione and Ginny prioritize friendships with boys, aren't sentimental or interested in looks, and are contrasted with other girls their age like Lavender and Parvati whose main interests are boys and gossip. Harry ultimately chooses Ginny as a girlfriend and then wife, who's lauded for not crying even in an emotionally fraught moment:

She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes thought that having six brothers must have toughened her up.

-Deathly Hallows, ch. 7

Rowling draws a deliberate parallel to Ginny being tough as a result of masculine influence, framing it as a positive trait. The only other girl Harry is involved with romantically is Cho, whose constant show of emotion and tears are presented as irrational and burdensome, despite the fact her previous boyfriend was murdered and her entire community is in denial about how and why, politicizing her trauma - but no one likes a weepy girl, according to Rowling! Cho is just there for Ginny to look better in comparison to and Harry to learn the lesson of substance over looks, so there's no need to care about her! In short, the girls who emulate traits enforced by toxic masculinity such as suppressing emotion and being attractive without trying (because trying is vanity and women must be naturally beautiful through... magic, I guess?) are the ones who merit the narrative's respect. These girls are also brave and bold - nevermind that Lavender Brown also fought in the battle of Hogwarts, which means she was just as brave, because she failed in enacting womanhood correctly and was thus expendable and killed.

The adult women in the series can easily be divided into two categories: maternal and thus worthy of salvation, and non-maternal and thus doomed. Molly Weasley is the consummate mother, a full-time housewife despite her family struggling to make ends meet, which can be interpreted as a statement of values the author is imparting in which motherhood is more important than working even when your family could really use the second income (although I also think that the author's primary motive is romanticizing poverty, but that's for another post, this one is long enough). Lily Potter's main character trait is that she died for her son - very little is known about her in canon and what can be inferred is pretty subjective. While Harry spends a good deal of the series learning about his father from a number of people who knew him in his youth, those same people have little or nothing to tell him about his mother (and while this is likely because the author was saving information on Lily for the big reveal at the end, there's no reason she couldn't have been explored more from the Marauders' perspective or even her post-Hogwarts years to give a better sense of her character). The story is peppered with women sacrificing for their children - Molly faces Bellatrix, Tonks has a child just before she dies in battle, etc. ("Gotta get that motherhood under the wire for her before she gets killed off, or it won't be heroic!" - JKR, probably.) Even Narcissa Malfoy is redeemed at the end of the series, because her main motivation in the few moments she's present is to protect her child.

In contrast, Bellatrix Lestrange and Dolores Umbridge are villains and childless (as is Aunt Marge, but she's a fleeting antagonist and not a full fledged villain). Umbridge's ultimate fate is left up in the air and unknown, but we do see her get dragged off by a herd of centaurs at the end of OoTP so there's a comeuppance there. If there weren't such a clear line between mothers and childless women in the series she would be less noticeably unmaternal, but given her penchant for favoritism and indulgence of students who obey her, the character trait that she hates children feels kind of cartoonish. If she'd had a child of her own who was either a grown adult at the ministry or better yet, a student at Hogwarts who was the head of the Inquisitorial Squad, it could have lent the story some additional complexity, but it's not for me to rewrite the books, I'm just trying to illustrate that these women could have easily been as villainous while also being maternal - that division is the author's deliberate choice.

Bellatrix, who goes against Narcissa and throws Draco, her nephew, into harm's way eventually gets her comeuppance and is killed in battle with a hefty dose of symbolism by Molly Weasley, the matriarch of the series, whose last words to her are "not my daughter, you bitch." The last word Bellatrix hears before she dies is "bitch" but I'll get into that later. JK Rowling (professional bigot)'s choice of language here is very telling - for all her talk of feminism, the values imparted in canon are of venerating motherhood as the ultimate form of womanhood, with a big helping of Thatcherite British feminism ie. that the goal of feminism isn't equality, but of taking patriarchal power (often through emulating traditionally masculine behaviors as we see Hermione and Ginny do). Ie. this kind of feminism is focused on seizing the power structure, but not changing it, and instead wielding it in the same ways as before but with women at the helm instead of men (brought to you by the same culture that took global colonisation to new heights, so not a lot of surprises there). Not one of the women who have a significant role in the narrative have a job, let alone a career, except Tonks, and the implication is that she gives up being an auror when she gets married. Even Fleur, who was top enough at school to be chosen as a TriWizard champion, settles into domestic life as soon as she gets married, moving to England for her husband and leaving her family behind. There's a problematic dichotomy in the narrative's expectation of women to emulate masculine traits in order to be respectable but also putting them on a pedestal for becoming mothers and domestic laborers.

In short, the feminism of the Harry Potter series is very set in its Thatcherite/post-Thatcher 90s British "girl power!" ways. It was a bold and powerful statement at the time the books were written that Hermione, a central female character, was the smartest against two male characters, spoke her mind, and fought for social justice. For all the necessary critiques, it's worth noting that a lot of girls found feminism through Hermione and for many years she was a symbol of female empowerment. It's definitely worth noting and appreciating, while also keeping in mind that Rowling nevertheless chose to have a male protagonist and tell a story in which most prominent characters are male and the power structure is unquestioningly dominated by men.

With this as a starting point, Kloves had nowhere to go but up in his representation of these characters on screen, and yet.

*Heavy sigh*

And yet.

Kloves manages to take Rowling's problematic but reasonable-for-its-period feminist representation and strip it of the respect and love it has for its characters in order to instead project the kind of misogyny that launched the second wave of feminism in the U.S. in the 1960s. The women of HP become such two dimensional stereotypes in his interpretation that it extends to the characters around them: Mrs. Weasley becomes a caricature of a dumpy, pestering mother to the point that Arthur Weasley has to shed his role as self-posessed patriarch and instead is a mild-mannered, submissive husband afraid of his wife. Hermione becomes such a two-dimensional shrill harpy that Ron's role as an equal who matches her in spirit, feist, and whose challenges to her character keep them both balanced is nowhere to be seen as Kloves turns him into a quippy sidekick who mumbles antagonistic comebacks under his breath for fear of getting into trouble. In boiling down these female characters to stereotypes, the whole narrative and supporting cast along with it are compromised and made less interesting.

Hermione

The most glaring example of Kloves' sexism is, of course, how he writes Hermione. At first, in Philosopher's Stone, there's a reasonable consistency between the Hermione of the book and the film, but that makes sense, since the book was short enough that the film could be an almost scene by scene representation and very little was changed. Hermione is introduced as very clever, but also pretentious and condescending. Once Harry and Ron become friends with her, the pretentiousness becomes endearing, and the condescension is directed at others, not them, so she becomes likeable to the reader. She also has great heart, however:

‘Harry - you’re a great wizard, you know.’ ‘I’m not as good as you,’ said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him. ‘Me!’ said Hermione. ‘Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh Harry - be careful!’

-Philosopher's Stone, Ch. 16

As the books go on and the trio get older, Hermione becomes more and more bold, adamantly defending the defenseless. In CoS she brews an illegal polyjuice potion to get info that could save Muggleborns; in PoA she slaps Malfoy in defense of Hagrid and Buckbeak; in GoF she starts S.P.E.W. etc. Although she often serves to convey the perspective of the author, she's a fully fleshed out character with values, convictions, and a clear emotional world. If she helps with story exposition, it's a result of her curiosity and insistence on researching relevant subjects - she moves the plot forward as a result of her choices and interactions the same as Harry or Ron. She rarely, if ever, just knows the answer to a question, and instead (and more realistically) remembers bits and pieces of information which lead her to ask questions relevant to her and the trio's needs and curiosity, or she does the work of researching an answer because she knows what question to ask. This critical approach is somewhat inconsistent with how she acts in a classroom setting, where she's eager to please teachers and mostly just regurgitates memorized information (which Snape notably sneers at in HBP). It's nevertheless impressive, however, that she's able to recall information from texts verbatim after only one reading, implying she's not only clever, but has a photographic memory. In short, she's an exceptional and impressive girl.

In contrast, the Hermione of the films starts out similar to the one in the books - she says the line about friendship and bravery with warmth - but by the third film she becomes a nagging harpy whose lines are more often to give exposition than to be actual dialogue. When she does have dialogue beyond exposition, it usually entrenches her personality as combative and overbearing. In the film of PoA, when Ron is telling Harry about his trip to Egypt, Hermione interrupts him to insist that the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats, defending Crookshanks while Ron dismisses her comment. Then Fred and George turn up and Hermione gets up and walks out of shot... except there's no reason for her to. She gets along with the twins and staying would give her an opportunity to show her lighter side, whereas leaving puts a physical distance between Hermione and the fun the twins represent. Instead, she goes to sit next to Ginny, who faces away from her.

PoA is also the film where Hermione starts pointedly calling Ron "Ronald" which is a small detail but diverges significantly from the books. It's unnecessarily formal and tends to make her sound like a disapproving mother calling their child by their full name when they're in trouble. Hermione's and Ron's relationship starts to be represented very differently from the books overall - this is the film where notoriously Ron says, "he's right, you know" in response to Snape calling her an insufferable know-it-all, whereas in the book he defends her and gets detention for it. Kloves takes this one facet of Hermione's character - that she reads ahead and prepares for lessons, resulting in having knowledge most other students don't yet - and makes it her entire personality. She not only offers exposition in class (like when she replies to Lupin and tells the class what a boggart is), she offers it when necessary for the plot (telling the others "everywhere else is full" on the train despite Harry walking ahead of her and them all having gotten on at the same time, telling Hagrid he has to take Draco to the hospital wing when he's injured etc.) or even for other characters' development (drink every time Hermione tells someone she knows what they're thinking or feeling throughout the rest of the films). There are several scenes where Ron and Harry talk to each other and have a good rapport, but Hermione's only lines are either to give exposition or chastise Ron needlessly.

While it's a key plot point of PoA that Hermione has a time turner, the only foreshadowing to this is a running joke that Ron is surprised when she turns up out of nowhere in classes. None of the foreshadowing involves any information about Hermione's character, despite it being relevant to the plot. We don't see her stressing over her course load or her teachers addressing it in any way, or her exhaustion or stress etc. She has just as much free time as Ron and Harry and is as well rested as they are. We're literally given no information whatsoever on why she needs a time turner to get to her lessons when no other student uses one. As for the character arc between Hermione and Ron when they think Crookshanks ate Scabbers (another key plot point), it's reduced to a single short scene in which she dismisses Ron's claim and blames him for losing his pet. There's no tension between the two of them, because Hermione dismisses the conflict like an actor at an improv show who's never heard the words "yes, and." This also means there's no opportunity for character development through resolution - we don't get a scene where Hagrid tells Ron to cut her slack or that she's been helping him with his case to defend Buckbeak. Hermione is given no redeeming qualities, she's just a harpy who doesn't care about her best friend's concerns (whereas book!Hermione is defensive but also clearly hurt and stressed - a lot of her moments of frustration are informed by her workload and exhaustion, and yet she still does more for Hagrid and Buckbeak than Ron or Harry).

Hermione as a harpy nag intensifies in GoF. She shows up when Ron and Harry have to wake up to travel to the Quidditch World Cup - she first wakes Harry, who asks when she arrived, to which she replies "just now" even though by the time they all set off it's barely dawn. She then wakes Ron by telling him to wake up in a voice dripping with irritation, and then saying, "honestly, get dressed" to both boys as if she were their mother telling them to do so for the tenth time, adding in that Ron's mum says breakfast is ready. The entire scene is unecessary, frankly, but if it had to be done as it was (Hermione waking the boys instead of Mrs. Weasley, as in the books), then she could have at least been wearing pajamas and been there for a few days already. I'd say, why not just have the boys wake up to an alarm clock but god forbid women do anything, I guess?

Kloves treats Hermione as a plot device more than a character, and it's telling of his attitude towards her that she arrived only just to wake the boys because that's her only purpose. She doesn't act like a friend - if Kloves saw her as equal to the boys, he would have written her walking in groggily in pajamas and waking them to say the line about breakfast being ready, or something similar. It would have conveyed a sense of friendship and the shared experience of having to wake up early as a teenager. But Hermione isn't portrayed as a peer, she's a disciplinarian and critic, much in the same way men who have mommy issues view women. Tellingly, she's harsher With Ron than with Harry, as if Kloves' idea of romantic tension were stuck in preschool - Ron and Hermione's relationship hinges on what is, essentially, the verbal equivalent of pulling pigtails and throwing dirt on the playground.

For Kloves, Hermione's main purpose is to be the voice of exposition. She's the one to tell Harry what the Dark Mark is at the quidditch world cup, which she also does in the book, except there's a crucial difference. Book!Hermione does it to protect Harry (emphases mine):

‘MORSMORDRE!’ And something vast, green and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Harry’s eyes had been struggling to penetrate: it flew up over the treetops and into the sky. ‘What the -?’ gasped Ron, as he sprang to his feet again, staring up at the thing that had appeared. For a split second, Harry thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then he realised that it was a colossal skull, composed of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation. Suddenly, the wood all around them erupted with screams. Harry didn’t understand why, but the only possible cause was the sudden appearance of the skull, which had now risen high enough to illuminate the entire wood, like some grisly neon sign. He scanned the darkness for the person who had conjured the skull, but he couldn’t see anyone. ‘Who’s there?’ he called again. ‘Harry, come on, move!’ Hermione had seized the back of his jacket, and was tugging him backwards. ‘What’s the matter?’ Harry said, startled to see her face so white and terrified. ‘It’s the Dark Mark, Harry!’ Hermione moaned, pulling him as hard as she could. ‘You-Know-Who’s sign!’ ‘Voldemort’s -?’ ‘Harry, come on!’

-Goblet of Fire

Although Hermione gives exposition, it isn't her character's sole purpose - she's with Harry because the trio have stuck together, and the purpose of her explanation of the Dark Mark is to convey the urgency and danger of the situation in order to get Harry to safety, which she also tries to do by physically urging him to move, as well as verbally.

In the film, Harry gets separated from Ron and Hermione, falls down and loses consciousness because... honestly, who even knows? He's found by Ron and Hermione just after the Dark Mark is conjured, their voices unknowingly deterring an approaching Barty Crouch. They stare at the Dark Mark but don't act, as though they're actors waiting for their cue, which they are (I blame the editing and lack of coverage, not the actors, though) - The Ministry wizards appear, and Hermione's explanation of the Dark Mark is reduced to exposition, though at this point any of the Ministry wizards could say it and it would make no difference, except that they would likely sound less condescending and scolding than her. In a subtle move, it's Harry who pulls Ron and Hermione down and puts his arms over them for protection when the Ministry wizards fire stunning spells, instead of the other way around as in the book. This kind of slight change isn't significant because it deviates from the text, that in itself isn't necessarily problematic - it changes the dynamic between characters, and does so unnecessarily, which affects their motivations and characters arcs, especially when it happens repeatedly.

It's not just Hermione whose relationships get reduced to perfunctory lines and blatant plot devices. After the whole ordeal with the Dark Mark, the book!trio return to their tent with the rest of the Weasleys, and the conversation in which Mr. Weasley and Bill explain what Death Eaters are to Harry is one which also makes him and Hermione feel like part of the family. They all process the recent scare together as a unit, and there's a comfort in doing so that is important to Harry's relationship with everyone else in the scene, and his handling of events to come. In the morning when they arrive back home at the Burrow, Molly is beside herself with worry, showing the side of her mothering self that is full of love and warm embraces, not just nagging and scolding. In the film, Harry does what Kloves usually has Hermione do, and blurts out the exposition with no real justification - Mr. Weasley's role is merely to name the masked people as Death Eaters (tangent because it bothers me: the DEs in the film don't target muggles, they just wreak senseless chaos on their fellow wizards, and not with visually compelling spells because we wouldn't want to overpay the special effects team, but with... fire. They just set everything on fire. It's so reductive and misses the point so completely).

Hermione, however, is the only character who gets reduced to the voice of exposition like this regularly. Unlike Mr. Weasley, she's a central character and often crucial to the plot. She has complex relationships with most of the other central characters, and when she does serve as the voice of exposition, it's in the context of her character and justified by her actions and interactions. Well, in the books, that is. To keep using the Dark Mark scene to illustrate, in the book it's Hermione who tells the Ministry officials that they heard a voice conjur it and points to where it came from. Hermione's passion for elf liberation is also sparked in this scene, after seeing how Crouch Sr. treats Winky. In the film, it's Harry who hears the voice and tells the Ministry officials (who all run off, conveniently exiting the scene), and Hermione's S.P.E.W. crusade isn't part of the story at all. At. All. The thing which she feels most impassioned about, and that frames her moral compass is completely dropped, as is pretty much every other aspect of her character except her nagging, exposition, and her date with Krum, which is really mostly just her telling Ron off.

This post is already long enough but to hell with it, let's also unpack Hermione at the Yule Ball for a quick moment. She descends the stairs looking radiant, but despite the already existing setup of romantic tension between her and Ron, he's not around to witness this moment and admire her. Although we know Ron's anger in this scene is rooted in jealousy, Rupert Grint isn't really given a moment in which to betray his true feelings, and the scene is written with a focus on setting Ron and Hermione up to bicker, which they do. Excessively. While book!Hermione is angry at Ron for being rude to her and her date, she still enjoys her night with Krum (who looks nothing like his burly, athletic film counterpart). Movie!Hermione, on the other hand, scolds Ron who in turn tells her condescendingly that he doubts she can take care of herself. Hermione tells him outright that he should have asked her out before it was a last resort (book!Hermione would never, she's far too upper middle class British), and says that he's "spoiled everything," sends the boys off to bed as if she were their mother (what IS it with Kloves???), and ends her night crying in a heap on the stairs outside the Great Hall. Behind her, a couple of girls console a third girl who is also crying. Because girls, right? All they do is cry over boys, what are ya gonna do? Where book!Hermione's personality is one which is strong and deliberately shows her being a "not like other girls" girl who doesn't cry and doesn't let a boy spoil her evening, Kloves' version of Hermione in the films is one who comes completely undone by Ron's disapproval, crying publicly as if the sight of a sad girl in a pretty dress was the epitome of romance - which for Kloves (and Mike Newell, the director), it seems to be.

This Hermione is miles away from her book counterpart, who's perspective is that when the boy you like doesn't like you back, find someone else to date (advice she not only lives by, but also gives Ginny) and have a good time despite them. Kloves centers her joy and sense of self on whether or not a boy likes her, or rather, the right boy. It says more about Kloves' perspective on Hermione as a person (or shadow of one, as it were) that despite her date to the Yule Ball being a world famous athlete and TriWizard champion, she still ends up crying alone in public, almost as if he wants to punish her for not liking who she's supposed to (there's a hint of "she'll regret turning me down for a date" fantasizing in there somewhere). Add to that the source of her sadness: Ron, whose own character is reduced from the endearing, ride or die friend in the books to a sassy sidekick with pithy one-liners who not only never defends Hermione even if it earns him a punishment, but says things like, "he's got a point, you know" when Snape calls her an insufferable know-it-all in PoA. There's a startling reductiveness but also an immaturity to how Kloves frames Ron and Hermione's tension-underscored-friendship by putting Hermione in the role of mothering harpy and having her cry over Ron while her book counterpart is having a ball with Krum. It's as though Kloves is punishing her for daring to have a romantic interest outside of the one she's already expressed (and the plot has deemed for her) - mother Hermione can't enjoy a night with Krum because it betrays Ron, who she's obligated to look after, and she must pay the price in tears and disappointment.

(Also, because this is how I get my kicks, I timed how much screen time is eaten up with Hermione sending Harry and Ron off to bed, Hagrid playing grab-ass with Madame Maxime, and the crows flying around Hogwarts until we get back to the plot with Harry's nightmare, and it's 1min3sec. If you cut down a bit of the Ron/Hermione bickering along with all the other fluff I just mentioned, you could easily fit in the scene where Harry overhears Snape and Karkaroff - you know, actual narrative and character development - especially if you cut the bits from the beginning and the end of that deleted scene, ie. Harry watching couples hook up and Moody also overhearing the conversation. So that's what got sacrificed for this nonsense. It's also telling that, based on that deleted scene, Kloves didn't think it was relevant to include Ron because again, he's just a quippy sidekick and not important to Harry's actual character development.)

Throughout the rest of the film, and the rest of the films, Hermione's primary role is to be the voice of exposition. She tells Harry what he needs to think about to prep for the nex task, but when Cedric shows up, she walks away because she's no longer needed. What's really telling, though, is the way in which she often shows herself to be the voice of exposition: the constant refrain of "I know what you're thinking" and "I know how you're feeling." Not only does Kloves struggle to allow characters to experience even a modicum of emotional development, he often prevents them from this by having someone else feed them their thoughts and feeling - and that someone is almost always Hermione.

She's not only portrayed as a mothering harpy, but also as conveniently omnipotent when it serves the story. The Hermione of the books is intelligent, both intellectually and emotionally. For example, in PoA at the height of the conflict in the Shrieking Shack, it's Hermione who tries to de-escalate the situation and reason with Snape, a moment conspicuously absent from the film. In the films she's not given enough character development for her insights to be contextualized in the narrative, however, and instead they're justified by her pared down character traits of being an overbearing, bossy know-it-all who's emotional because that's just what girls are, apparently. (She's also given one of the most useless, idiotic lines in the entire series at the end of GoF, which is "everything's going to change now, isn't it?" which I could write a whole post about. Harry's response of, "...yes." is just jaw dropping, honestly. Kloves, my dude, when your protagonist has nothing useful to say, the problem is the line he's replying to).

More relevantly, though, Hermione's constant giving of emotional exposition ("I know what you're feeling, Harry") echoes all too strongly the misogynistic idea that it's a woman's job to provide emotional labor. There's also something telling in the way this dialogue tends to happen. For example, in HBP when Hermione notes Harry's interest in Ginny: she says, "I know. I see the way you look at her." Kloves can't let her get through this moment, when she seeks comfort from a friend, without framing it in the context of emotional omnipotence and subsequent emotional labor which is taken for granted. Hermione often fades into the background, spending entire scenes with just one or no lines of dialogue, because when she does speak it's for the sake of blatantly moving the plot along with exposition, to do emotional labor, or to be an overbearing mother hen to Ron and Harry. Her role in the films is reduced to the most basic, outdated, misogynistic stereotypes of womanhood.

Molly Weasley

Speaking of overbearing mother hens, Molly Weasley is done dirty in the films. For the most part, she fades into the background. In CoS she doesn't just tell the boys and Arthur off for bewitching the Ford Anglia to fly, we see Arthur positively shrivel around her. In the books he's a strong father figure, the man of the house, but his character is compromised in order to amplify Molly as an angry-nagging-wife-with-a-rolling-pin 1950s stereotype. Where in PoA the book!Molly and Arthur argue about whether to tell Harry about Black, Molly displaying her maternal protectiveness over him, the film centers only Arthur and leaves Molly out completely. She's cut out of this scene at the cost of compelling interpersonal drama and character development for both her and Arthur, and in the process Kloves also makes her opinions and worries irrelevant. In the same amount of time it takes Arrthur to tell Harry about Black, the scene from the book could easily have been done.

Instead Molly's main purpose, a few moments later, is to make sure Ron doesn't lose Scabbers - the goal of which is to highlight Scabbers, as he'll be relevant to the story later, because Molly is just the overbearing mother who reminds her children of things they forget and is a conduit for foreshadowing. Book!Molly is maternal in every sense of the word: she takes care of the family and the household, but she's also fiercely protective and treats Harry like a son. She shows up with Bill to cheer him on in the TriWizard final, knowing the Dursleys wouldn't show up. In OoTP when Sirius says to her that Harry isn't her son, Molly shoots back "he's as good as!" Well before the Order figure out that the Dursleys are abusing Harry, Molly hosts him every summer, never expecting his family to return the favor. She's the one who makes him feel like part of the family. Movie!Molly, on the other hand, is maternal only in the way a 1950s mother-in-law joke sees a woman as maternal: she nags, reprimands, and is only around to do those two things, excepting the end of DH when she kills Bellatrix.

That moment, in both the book and the film, is fraught. Before killing Bellatrix, Molly says the iconic line, "not my daughter, you bitch." I could go into how in the film we don't see Ginny fighting Bellatrix at all, or see Bellatrix taunt Molly by asking, “What will happen to your children when I’ve killed you?... When Mummy’s gone the same way as Freddie?” as she does in the book. That the film doesn't show Molly pushing Harry and several others students out of the way to protect them as she insists Bellatrix is her, and only her, opponent. But what I actually want to talk about is the use of the word "bitch," which was Rowling's original choice of dialogue that Kloves kept in the script.

Throughout the seven books we see numerous references to foul language - Ron cursing, Snape cursing in the pensieve, as well as several other characters - but whatever words they're using aren't ever mentioned, only alluded to. In the entire series, the only character we ever see use an inappropriate curse word is Molly Weasley when she calls Bellatrix a bitch before engaging her in battle and killing her. Rowling's choice to use this specific term undermines a lot of her claimed feminism. It's clear her feminism is about taking power, not working for equality, and doesn't seem to be intersectional. Her choice to put this word into Molly Weasley's mouth, directed at a villainous (and childless) female character belies the sense we get from her approach to the other prominent female characters that some women don't pass muster and that political and social values are a privilege, not a right, extended only to those she deems deserving. The use of the term "bitch" from one woman to another undermines the sense of female empowerment in this scene where two powerful women representing light and dark magic go head to head. "Much like the anti-suffrage movement, the term “bitch” was and is about containing women, says Karrin Vasby Anderson, a communications studies professor at Colorado State University." Although the word was reclaimed in the 70s, its use has remained varied to this day, and when used as an insult is derogatory in a way that specifically targets women, relying on the bias that woman are inferior.

The second DH film retains Molly's dialogue (one of the rare times a line from the book is directly transferred to a film) but not much else. We see her duel with Bellatrix and kill her, but the transition from fierce mama bear protecting children to ruthless fighter in battle is so quick that you barely see her protecting Ginny - in fact, all you see is Ginny blocking a spell from Bellatrix, a cut to Helena Bonham-Carter's reaction shot, and then cut back to see Julie Walters as Molly Weasley stepping into Ginny's place as Ginny stands behind her alongside Arthur and George. The blocking is passive and it's uncharacteristic of Molly's family to be standing and watching in the midst of battle instead of fighting, let alone doing so as Molly is up against a witch like Bellatrix:

Molly is stepping up to fight Bellatrix, but she's not doing it protectively - it's more of a polite changing of places. There are no other children she's herding out of the way, and the clumsiness of the whole thing along with the lack of other actions takes away from Molly's air of protectiveness and becomes, instead, an act of aggression against Bellatrix. What is a defensive action in the book is portrayed as an offensive one in the film. In short, everything about how this moment is constructed feels out of character for Molly and as if the writer and director (and perhaps producers) just wanted to capture this one iconic line where the resident matriarch gets to call another woman a bitch. The most generous interpretation of this might be that they thought it was fun to watch mommy swear, but I'm not feeling very generous this far into the series. If there had been investment in Molly as a character in the narrative up until this point, the few extra seconds of screen time would be worth it to show her spotting that there are children fighting Bellatrix, Bellatrix taunting her about her son's death, and Molly rushing to put herself between children and harm, instead of clambering up clumsily when Ginny politely offers her space. If you look closely, Julie Walters has her back to Ginny as the latter is blocking the killing curse, and it's the spell that makes her turn around - why would she have her back to her daughter who's facing Bellatrix of all people? Arthur is just as casual, and Molly is facing him before turning around, so there isn't even a reasonable excuse that she was fighting someone else - Molly, Arthur, and George are just standing around while everyone around them is fighting (again, like actors waiting for their cue, which they are - a fault with the directing and editing).

Some of this is the general passivity with which these films were made - the blocking, the dialogue, the camera angles are all very polite and demure in ways that aren't commensurate with an action fantasy story. But because Molly has spent every film being little more than a nagging harpy, this moment isn't just clumsy, it's fully out of character. Molly's satisfied smile at the end cements her as the winner in a catfight, not a devoted mother forced to do battle and take a life to protect her children. There's no understanding of maternal instinct, protectiveness, or love in this moment - it's written, directed, and produced by men and through their eyes we see a two dimensional female character gleefully taking down another female character. Where book!Molly has a moment of fully realized maternal devotion and willingness to sacrifice herself against a dangerous and worthy enemy, movie!Molly is merely a sexist manifestation of the kind of pitting women against women that serves to further entrench patriarchal norms. This isn't just a fun moment where we get to watch mommy say a swear word; Molly isn't using the word "bitch" because her maternal ferocity is at its peak (and I still take issue with Rowling's choice to use the word at all), but instead her use of the word "bitch" is what this whole moment is constructed around. It's what's really at the center of the scene, not Molly the character herself. This is the only moment Molly gets in the whole film - later, when she's mourning her son's death, we see it only from afar and through Harry's eyes. She's served her purpose and can fade into the background again.

Ginny

The films don't really know what to do with Ginny. In the books she has a strong, "not like other girls" thing going on - a trait venerated by Rowling's Thatcherite feminism for bearing all the traits of having grown up with only brothers, not being emotional, and excelling at sports. There's nothing wrong with any of these traits, and they are, in fact, feminine! Because a lot of girls have varied interests and a range of emotional expression, and are still very much girls. What Rowling does is emphasize Ginny's traits as both admirable the result of masculine influence. She also, along with Hermione, sets her apart as unique and likeable by comparing them to other more traditionally feminine girls around them (Lavender, Parvati, Pansy, etc.). Nevertheless, book!Ginny is clever, skilled at hexes, fierce on the Quidditch pitch, and once she gets over her childhood awe of Harry is capable of challenging him in ways no one else can. She's confident, if her attitude toward dating is any indication, and is the only sibling Fred and George are unwilling to cross.

Movie!Ginny is passive and gets little opportunity to be anything. While the 2 seconds of screentime it would have taken to show her impressing Slughorn with a bat bogey hex is nowhere to be seen, she does show up late to one of his dinners - so late, in fact, she walks in during dessert. And she's crying. Ginny Weasley, who is described thus in HBP at Dumbledore's funeral while even Ron still has tears dripping from the end of his nose (emphases mine):

She did not cry, she simply looked at him. ‘Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to. He’s already used you as bait once, and that was just because you’re my best friend’s sister. Think how much danger you’ll be in if we keep this up. He’ll know, he’ll find out. He’ll try and get to me through you.’ ‘What if I don’t care?’ said Ginny fiercely.

-Half-Blood Prince, Ch. 30

This is the character Steve Kloves has crying over a boy and, even more uncharacteristically, being so late to a prestigious Slug Club meeting (that notoriously helps people network and have careers) she misses most of it. As if boys were the most important thing to her. Up until HBP movie!Ginny hasn't been around much. Despite being a constant presence in the books (hanging out during summers, being friends with Hermione, being active in the DA), in the films she's in the background, with little to say or do other than look jealously at Harry when Hermione mentions Cho's interest in him. But now, in HBP, Kloves has no choice - Ginny is going to be Harry's love interest, so he has to include her in the script as a more significant character. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to understand the difference between "significant" and "has dialogue." Ginny has lines, sure, and she's in more scenes, but she's passive, coy, and does little more than exist as an object of interest to Harry.

It's hard not to look at Kloves' writing choices around this without an uncomfortable sense that you've learned something about this man you didn't want to know. Book!Ginny is in a relationship with Dean Thomas, and when Harry and Ron stumble onto them making out, it's Harry who feels jealous. Again and again Harry struggles with his increasing interest in Ginny, who's none the wiser until Harry grabs her in an emotionally laden moment and kisses her. Harry goes through an emotional process, learning to appreciate her in new ways while Ginny is living her life. In stark contrast to this, Movie!Ginny is the one to do all the work (when Hermione isn't talking about Harry's feelings for him, that is). She feeds him a mince pie (and you can almost see both actors cringing), then another scene later bends down to tie his shoe (while he's fully dressed and she's in a bathrobe??? I have so many questions and actually you know what, I don't want to know the answers). Kloves chooses to show Harry's interest in Ginny by making Ginny do the work, not him, and uses acts of unnecessary servile caretaking to do so.

There's just too much to unpack here. Kloves literally can't bring himself to make Harry lift a finger, and not only manages to transfer Harry's affection into Ginny's actions entirely, taking the onus off him and putting it onto her, his understanding of romantic love seems to be female subservience. This moment is then interrupted by Death Eaters inexplicably attacking the Burrow and burning it down - a moment that is not only completely absent in canon and unnecessary to the narrative, but given Kloves' consistent avoidance of emotional tension feels very much like an inability to resolve the clumsy and backwards way he chose to show tension between Harry and Ginny culminating in literally just setting the whole scene on fire and running away.

When Harry and Ginny finally do kiss, it's Ginny who does the heavy lifting again. She goes to the room of requirement with Harry to hide the Prince's potions book, because Harry has to get rid of it after using Sectumsempra and almost killing Malfoy (for which he gets no punishment or even a talking to) - a choice I'm sure Kloves had a good reason for but his notes burnt up in the Burrow fire apparently so that explanation is nowhere to be found I guess. Ginny is inexplicably coy and flirtatious, similar to this section in the books:

Excerpt not found

-Book and chapter not found

"I can hide up here too, if you want" is the dialogue equivalent of Ginny slowly shoving a mince pie into an awkward Harry's mouth: unsettling, uncalled for, and makes their relationship uncomfortable to watch instead of endearing. None of this is helped by the fact that Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright were cast in their roles years earlier as young children and not, as is often done with a romantic pairing, screen tested together to see their chemistry, and it turned out they didn't really have any. Which is then compounded by the production's incessant and insistent avoidance of emotional tension and the script failing completely to build up their relationship in an effort to compensate for not having done so in previous films.

After this, there's no change in how the two of them relate to each other. We don't see them spending time together or even exchanging warm (or, god forbid, flirtatious) looks. There's no gentle hand taking Harry's to pull him away from the sight of Dumbledore's body below the tower because we barely get a glimpse of Ginny walking over to him and even her torso is barely in the shot as he embraces her; it's Hermione who's face the camera shows with a tear streaming down it (but in the director David Yates' defense, it's Hermione's job to tell Harry what his feelings are, Kloves told us so, so there isn't much left for Ginny to do). At the end of the film, Harry doesn't break things off with Ginny as he faces the mountainous task of searching for Horcruxes after Voldermort's death.

At the start of the next film, the two of them share another passionless, chaste kiss (after Ginny flirtatiously asks Harry to zip up her dress because... *gestures at Kloves* *laughs uncomfortably*), and again, there's just too much to unpack in a single moment here. Kloves flips the script of the book again - where in HBP Harry's passionate kiss became Ginny's coy chaste peck, now Ginny's passionate goodbye to Harry becomes a coy excuse for Harry to kiss her. The heavy lifting is not only always in the opposite hand, but it's not supposed to be heavy lifting in the first place, but an expression of affection. There's no mention of a goodbye at all, just two kids kissing like confused twelve year olds at their first sleep away camp who spun the bottle on each other one too many times. All the fierceness, understanding, and love that book!Ginny shows is completely absent - she exists only to be an object of interest to Harry, which he forgets the second he has something more important to do (and that basically describes everything). When they reunite before the battle in the room of requirement, they stare at each other so passively the air between them might as well be a dense fog. No one tries to keep Ginny back when the battle begins, no protective parent or Harry, so she doesn't get to prove her stubborn bravery and thirst for fighting, she's just part of the action and becomes part of the background.

In conclusion: a sigh of relief for all as this post finally ends (jk no one's reading anymore)

While Rowling projects a quintessentially British, Thatcherite kind of feminism onto her narrative, Kloves brings a more American but distinctly male sense of misogyny to it instead. For all the problems there are to unpack in Rowling's feminism - and British feminism in general, including a lack of intersectionality and a focus on taking power instead of treating everyone equally and with respect, it at least aims to empower women. Although her priorities are clear and she makes moral distinctions between women who are maternal and those who aren't, her major female characters are well-rounded, strong, empowered, powerful, and have numerous admirable qualities. These same characters lose most of these traits in Kloves' scripts. They become flat, supporting characters who are there to serve the protagonist's story, and sometimes very literally the protagonist himself. He goes out of his way to disempower them and make supporting characters instead of central ones in the case of Hermione, reduces them to outdated stereotypes in the case of Molly Weasley, and a genuinely uncomfortable kind of male fantasy in the case of Ginny. As a result, other characters are also compromised, because they have only a flat counterpart to play off of, and you can't write interesting interactions without interesting characters. Whether he does this deliberately or as a result of ingrained biases that color his interpretation of the books, I'm not sure, but I also don't think he's worth the amount of thought it would take to consider his motivations; the outcome is the same.

[blorger]

Hi! What are your thoughts on the Weasleys as a family and each of them?

Hello friend, I have many Thoughts on the Weasleys, so many that I'm going to have to condense things a bit for the purpose of this ask. To make a long story short, I am glad that they are there for Harry as a found family of sort but, at the end of the day, I like the idea of the Weasley family more than the execution.

If you look at what the Weasleys actually do for Harry when he's still a vulnerable minor you realise that they (in this case the adults) are not actually very helpful to him. Like, when your 12 year old son shows you up in terms of caring about Harry's abuse I think it's time to look inward (I'm looking at you Arthur).

Also, as a someone who was raised in a dysfunctional environment, I can't help but raise my eyebrows whenever the Weasleys are presented as the Ideal Family. If those children were real they'd be a therapist's wet dream, just saying.

As for them individually:

Molly: I loathe Molly, she's one of my least favourite characters in all of the books. I hate how she's depicted as the Ideal Mom when in reality she's pretty shit: she blatantly plays favourites among her children; she openly favours Harry in a way that, if I was Ron, I'd resent tremendously; she's a boymom of the highest degree and her treatment of Fleur is straight up vile. On a meta level, I hate that she only seems to exist as a Mother (and, to a lesser extent, as a Wife): The only interest of hers that cannot, in some shape or form, be tied back to her family is her love of Celestina Warbeck (and that is something we are supposed to laugh at her for). 0/10

Arthur: I'm not a fan of him either. Seeing that the Weasley family is constructed like some sort of 50ies white picket fence nightmare, Arthur is by design uninvolved in his children's lives and that is super gross to me. As I mentioned before, I hate that he witnesses firsthand how Harry is treated at the Dursleys and does nothing. Speaking of Dursleys, I very much dislike the patronising way he seems to enjoy muggle culture (and muggles in general); to me, it reads very Noble Savage-y. My favourite thing about Arthur is the 10ft tall hate-boner he has for Lucius Malfoy but other than that I'm not exactly a fan. 3/10

Bill: little to no opinion, canon bill is there to be occasionally helpful (and for Harry to glowingly review). He's obviously the golden child of the family but, considering he fucked off to Egypt as soon as he was able to, he does not seem to relish in the role. 6/10

Charlie: He is honestly barely a character in canon, so I have no opinion of him. He is another example of a Weasley kid fucking off asap after Hogwarts so there's that, also I like fanon gay Charlie . 6/10

Percy: A parentified middle child who struggles to receive attention from his parents and ends up drifting away from the family? Percy is the most realistic out of all the Weasley children (in that I could conceivably see a child like him come out of a family with those dynamics) and the books hate him for it. Personally, I enjoy him and I enjoy reading stories that examine his thoughts and motivations because the narrative doesn't give two shits about him. 8/10

Fred & George: When I was reading the books as a child they were my favourite characters. Looking at them with adult eyes, I'm now incredibly turned off by their mean-spiritedness. 4/10 (they do treat Harry rather well though so kudos to them for that)

Ron: Ron is honestly one of the best-written characters in the books. As readers we see his many faults and mistakes but we also see him trying to improve and we see how genuinely he cares about Harry&Hermione. I like how, even as Ron improves thoughout the books, his core character traits remain the same. I like Ron, not only because he's a good friend, but because he's imperfect. 10/10

Ginny: Ok concept, terrible execution. Ginny is barely a person, her personality gets changed to suit the narrative and her character basically only exists in function to Harry's. Even at her best, when we're supposed to go gaga over her, she's still deeply disappointing. 1/10

xoxo

[bumblesimagines]

i've been in love with you since the day we met. there. i said it. happy now?

Ginny Miller

i've been in love with you since the day we met. there. i said it. happy now?

Pronouns: He/Him/His, M!Reader

Ginny hated the crushing weight of realizing her crush would never like her back. It was a feeling she'd grown accustomed to since the moment her little mind had been able to process things like attraction. She couldn't help her feelings, always getting a crush on some guy just because he smiled, was kind, or just showed her the smallest bit of attention. It was frustrating, and embarrassing, watching them choose girls who looked like her polar opposite: tall, blonde, skinny, married parents, stable household, suburban white picket fence lifestyle. The pretty popular girls who looked perfect at every given moment. They didn't have to worry about struggling to control their hair or having to deal with their mom disrupting their life by moving from place to place or not getting to see their dad as often as they wanted. 

For a split, brief moment, she thought Wellsbury would be different. Sure, the residents were painfully white and looked too upbeat to be real people, but she'd found a group of friends that made her feel at home and had managed to land her first boyfriend. Sweet, considerate, attentive Hunter Chen. The perfect guy. He came from a good family, shared mutual friends, and was everything anyone could ever need or want in a boyfriend.

Except... Hunter wasn't the guy who'd first caught her eye when she arrived at Wellsbury High School and made her stomach turn to mush.

That spot had been taken up by (Y/N) Sanchez, the longtime friend of the Baker twins and brother to Sophie, the so-called 'hottest girl in school'. Ginny had the pleasure of meeting him at lunch when he'd gone back and forth in playful banter with Max and made Ginny feel more than welcome at their table. Hunter had been there too and while she blushed when he brushed off Max's semi-insensitive rambling, the spark just hadn't been the same.

She thought she'd get over it when Hunter asked her out but with her nearly always over at Max's place and (Y/N) and Marcus practically joined at the hip, her crush only worsened. And it absolutely didn't help that (Y/N) enjoyed being affectionate with his friends. An arm over Jordan's shoulders, piggyback rides with Abby, letting Max use his lap as a seat, playful drunk flirting with Brodie and Marcus. It'd taken a couple weeks before it started with Ginny. Hugs from behind, casual arm around her shoulder, the playfights and wrestling over snatched phones or beer bottles.

And then, it happened. 

M.A.N.G had gathered together at Max's place for a get-together with just the girls to gossip, chit-chat, and relax without the rowdy boys interfering with their stupid jokes or teasing. Ginny had settled down comfortably on Max's bed with a laptop resting over her outstretched legs as she searched for a movie they could watch. Nora and Abby arrived looking extremely pleased and an excited Nora couldn't help but spill out the news. 

(Y/N) had officially asked Abby out after years of flirting. 

Ginny had been crushed, to say the least, and barely paid any attention to the movies chosen while she thought back on each interaction he and Abby shared throughout her time knowing them. She'd never seen their closeness as something with flirtatious undertones but she supposed (Y/N) always teased Abby more than the others. 

From then on, her mood had considerably soured and it was beginning to be noticeable. She couldn't help it. Jealousy bubbled up in her chest and spread throughout her body whenever she saw the two together. She became snappier and standoffish, especially whenever the relationship was brought up and cooed over. Even Hunter had begun lightly questioning her, asking if everything was alright at home with Georgia and Austin. 

Ginny groaned softly under her breath and slammed the locker closed. She almost flinched at the person whose face had been hidden by it but her surprise was quickly washed away by a fluttery feeling in her stomach. (Y/N) flashed his pearly whites at her and arched a brow as he glanced between her and the locker. 

"What'd the locker do to you?"

"Nothing," She answered, slipping her backpack strap over her shoulder and shrugging. "Just... woke up on the wrong side of the bed." 

"Think you need to put your bed against the wall then, Gin and tonic. You've been bitchy all week and it's making Hunter think he pissed you off." (Y/N) pushed himself off the lockers and slipped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her close to his side as they headed down the hall. Ginny tried not to think about how perfectly she fit against him, like the last piece in a puzzle slotting right in. "What's going on, my little cocktail? Did Hunter try giving you a private tap dance class?"

Ginny giggled and lifted her hand to stifle it, the uneasiness that'd settled in her muscles slipping away. "No, he didn't. It's not him. I just..." She trailed off, the nerves flooding her system making her feel as if her guts were being twisted violently. She cleared her throat. "It's nothing, I swear. Having a bad day is all."

"You're a shit liar, Gin." 

"I'm not lying-"

"Yeah, you are. You can tell me what's going on, you know. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, I promise." He assured her, giving her arm a reassuring squeeze. Ginny dug her teeth into the inside of her cheek and shook her head, brushing his arm off her shoulder and quickening her pace.

Before she could round the corner and try making a subtle break for it, a hand clamped around her forearm and dragged her into an empty classroom. (Y/N) planted himself in the doorway and crossed his arms, staring at her expectantly. Ginny pursed her lips and took a deep breath through her nose. Now or never.

"I've been in love with you since the day we met. I like Hunter but only as a good friend and- and I don't think you and Abby should date. She's a great friend but she can be mean and aloof and- and I hardly see you dating someone like her. I thought I could break up with Hunter and confess to you but then you got with Abby and I just- I... I can't handle it. I can't handle seeing you with her. I'm sorry, I can't..." She blurted out. "There. I said it. Happy now?"

[treacletartlett]

vulnerability

for the struggling girlies with anxiety♡

there's no one who you can really open up to, who you can talk about the most personal things with, but harry, he seems to be able to read you like an open book. he shows you how to make yourself feel good without guilt, he shows you how to be vulnerable with yourself and other people.

sorry guys this ended up being much longer than anticipated, I enjoyed writing this so much!

includes sexual content!

You and Harry are not actually friends, but sharing a friend group and house forced you to be friendly acquaintances, and when passing each other in the halls you greet each other with a simple greeting.

secretly, there has always been a kind of attraction you held for him, his charm, his good looks, but you never spoke about it with anyone since it didn't seem like anything past friendly attraction. unfortunately, that quickly grew into something you’d rather not speak about.

you didn't experience such feelings often, but when you did, they weren't as intense as you felt with him, which was something you struggled with a lot. you didn't enjoy the things your friends loved, or when someone tried to get it on with you your body didn't react as you wanted it to, even if it's just for wanting to know that you could feel the same as the others.

during breakfast time, you were sitting with your friends as usual. though what were unusual was that you had joined them a bit later than the rest.

you were that type of person who arrives earlier than the rest and is always on time.

your friend, neville, who was as oblivious as they come and nicely sitting next to hermione granger, who was Harry's best friend, looked at you with confusion while asking "where were you at? you're never this late to breakfast, I was almost worried."

the rough start of the morning did nothing to ease this situation.

trying to act casual, you scooped some egg and other foods on your plate, not paying attention to what you were piling your plate with. a faint pinkish tint rising on your cheeks.

“nothing, just slept late.” You mumbled loud enough for them to hear.

“I dont think that’s true,” Hermione spoke softly, that look on her face indicating she knows something suspicious was going. “you slept and woke up at the same time as me.”

hermione really knew how to put someone on the spot. while uneasily trying to make something up, Harry, who was sitting two places to Hermione's right, spoke up while holding the morning edition of The Daily Prophet.

“that doesn't matter, more importantly, Ginny, you're going to the quidditch tryouts, aren't you?” successfully steering the conversation away from you, you felt grateful for the minor save. you looked at him for a second, smiling slightly before focussing on something else.

“Yes, I'm trying out for chaser, then I have an excuse to push people.” Ginny said, but you weren’t really listening, your mind wandering.

"I'm sure you'll do great, alongside Ron of course, anyone else going? are you?" he asked you, suddenly interested. you weren't actually sure if you wanted to try out, never having been on the team yourself, but you loved quidditch, and did want to be, but with Harry as captain this year, you weren't sure how focussed you could be.

"oh well, I'm not sure. I've thought about it, but I don't know." you replied sheepishly. the lack of confidence in your voice has always had a way to embarrass you, even after such a long time. you were never able to grow into your own skin much, even after having seen all your friends grow up and get that self-confidence you lacked.

"I've seen you fly, y/n, you really should try-out! you're an amazing flyer." Ron said, which shocked you slightly, unknowing to his seeing you fly before-which you did with your friends often, late in the night- and the fact that he just praised your skills, has plastered a smile on your face and lifted some of your self-consciousness.

Harry nodded, seemingly agreeing with Ron. "yea, you definitely should, Ron and I were impressed with you! we're surprised you haven't tried out before."

your face reddened even more, and you hoped you weren't the same shade as a tomato, being put on the spot. you were really bad at getting compliments, scared you would come off as rude or arrogant by how you reply to them, so you did what you thought you should and smiled, and told them a small thank you to which they both smiled back at before resuming their conversation with Ginny, and the rest of the Gryffindors.

after breakfast, you and your friends left for classes, but the way Harry complimented you hasn't been able to leave your mind, making you lose focus for the majority of the day.

when classes ended you decided to split off from your friends a walk your own way, needing some space to clear your mind. your footsteps echoed and you grazed the wall, slightly leaning right against it. there was such a peaceful silence that it made you doze off. you weren’t paying attention to anything or anyone around, but it wasn’t needed since there weren’t anyone but you in the corridor.

Or so you thought. a small grunt escaped your mouth, the impact of walking into a wall hit you hard. but, as it turns out it wasn’t a wall. it was a someone. steadying yourself you looked up at the person you just walked into.

Harry Potter turned around and chuckled when he saw you. “You okay?" he asked, while he tried to hold in his laugh

it wasn't a hard hit as it would've been if you walked into an actual wall, but it still shocked you slightly. because of quidditch, he’s grown quite muscular, not too much, but just enough to make his back feel firm to the touch.

“Oh, right, yea sorry about that, wasn’t paying attention.” You mumbled, a faintly blushing.

“I noticed,” he chuckled. "don't worry about it, I didn't pay attention either. where were you off to?" his quick change in subject startled you, but when you collected your thoughts you croaked out your answer. "just walking around, wasn't thinking of a specific place."

He nodded, in thought, as if he carefully constructed his next question in his mind. "why were you actually late this morning? it didn't seem like anything particular, but when I saw Hermione's face, I knew she was suspicious, and most of her suspicions are justified."

this was the last thing you expected him to ask you, after he led the conversation this morning elsewhere. your face heated up in a second, reliving the memories of you this morning. you weren't sure how to reply, knowing you weren't the best of liars, and harry seemed to catch on to this rather quickly. was this the time to be honest? to tell the person you've experienced a different feeling with than the handful others you thought more than once about? it would be weird, and damn random. you and Harry weren't even real friends, this was something you wouldn't even tell your closest friends.

"well, uh, nothing. it was nothing. I was only late once, it happens. anyway I should get going." you tried to hurry off, staying casual, but it didn't work. as you walked past him, he followed you, and it seemed like he was going to stop at any given moment.

"you know, I'm not trying to embarrass you or anything, I'm just curious since your face reddened a bit when neville asked, and we haven't really spoken before, so because you're going to be on the quidditch team I thought we should try and maybe get to know each other, even if it's just a bit? anyway, whatever it is, I know it isn't nothing, and while I'm mostly someone who doesn't push, I'm also very curious, also to know you a bit, so whatever it is, don't worry, I won't find it weird or anything."

after he stopped rambling, silence filled the hall while you tried to articulate a convincing excuse. you weren't sure what he would think, and after his speech, you tried to focus on anything but his remark that you'll be on the team, when you haven't even clarified if you're trying-out. after pondering, and dragging it out for as long as you can, you stumbled a bit over your words before you managed to just throw everything out, for some reason forgetting all the reasons why you didn't want to tell him anything in the first place. he looked at you with such a look that for some reason made you think he wouldn't be caught off guard by what you were about to say.

you flushed bright red, your body having a hobby of showing your embarrassment which you've always cursed your genes for. "well, I'm not sure. so I- I think there is something wrong, or I don't know, with me. This is probably really weird, so yea," he shook his head in disagreement. "I was just- you know, I was, I don't know. I've never experienced those feelings before, even though everyone around me has, and well, you know, I also haven't had intense feelings for anyone until recently and it's really weird, I'm not sure what to do with them, so I did what everyone does and woke up early after I- after I had a-," you stopped talking for a second. "a dream, about, well, someone I think, and I thought 'I just have to try' because I wanted my body to react normally like everyone talks about, but I felt really weird and I hate discussing stuff like this, so it didn't really work out and after I felt really uncomfortable and dirty, or something, that I did that. I don't know why I won't just enjoy it like everybody else, but I guess my body just won't change or turn normal or something."

after you finished your sentence and caught your breath, you realised you rambled on to Harry for a solid second. embarrassment and disbelieve clouded your head, but Harry just listened to you talk and seemed interested in what you had to say. you could almost see the wheels turn in his head, forming a reply to your story. nerves settled low in your stomach and doubt clouded your thoughts, afraid you overshared or made him feel weird, but when he spoke, he spoke with such interest and care you suddenly forgot every worry you had.

"y/n, just because you don't experience things like others doesn't mean you can't give love to yourself. there is nothing wrong with you, or your body. just because it's deemed 'the ordinary' doesn't tell you that you have to experience it the same way as others." he stepped closer, "you don't have to 'overcome' it, because there is nothing strange about those mental barriers you set, you just have to understand what your body is telling you, without feeling disgusted. it's nature." his words felt like a caress against your back, the soft tone of his whisper a hug around you. they reassured you, settled the doubts you've had for so long a fraction, which is a fraction more than anyone has ever.

you weren't sure how to reply, this whole conversation feeling weird to you, but when you looked at him he seemed at ease. it wasn't new though, your friends loved to talk about it, and even though you didn't, you didn't want anyone to know about your 'abnormality'.

"so who's the person anyway, the one you were talking about." he asked. you looked at him, confused, not expecting him to ask that either.

"what?" you asked, absentmindedly. "you know, the person you had feelings for." you tensed. he obviously didn't know it was him, and you weren't about to tell him. "well, I-, I don't know." it was a feeble attempt, but it didn't work, obvious by Harry who started laughing.

"that was a really sad excuse, sorry." he said when he caught his breath. "it's okay, I promise I won't tell anyone." he looked eager to know, to know which person managed to activate your sex drive for the first, and probably last, time in your life. having spilled so much, you were at a loss for words. slight panic overtook you as you stayed silent, trying to come up with something.

Harry kept looking at you patiently. it was visible he really wanted to know, but he tried to hide it while you looked for something to say. the corridor almost came to an end, giving way for the grounds outside. it wasn't cold per se, but it wasn't pure sunshine either.

it was perfect.

you gave up trying to find an excuse to say that would convince him otherwise, and kept silence, hoping he'll magically forget he's asked you anything. it was pathetic, but maybe it would work.

"it isn't going to work." he spoke.

well, it was worth trying.

"you can't ignore me, or your feelings. maybe I can help you. whoever it is, I won't judge, I won't even reply, if you don't want me to." he stopped walking, standing in front of you when you two just passed a large tree. he had this puppy dog eye look, and silently begged to know the answer.

you weren't really sure why he wanted to know so bad, but for some reason it felt good knowing he wanted to know something like that, so personal. nevertheless, it was hard trying to maintain secrecy while he's looking at you like that.

"what if it were someone you knew really well?" you asked softly, slightly hinting at who it could be. you felt anxious as you avoided looking at him, your head bowed to the ground, suddenly interested in the green of the grass.

it was quiet, there seemed to be no one outside except for you two, which was highly unusual, since it's always packing with this weather, but you guessed the universe was at your side, granting you full privacy with Harry.

"then that would be just fine." he answered. his voice was calm and gentle, unlike your hoarse whisper. you wanted him to suddenly know without having to tell him, it would be much easier.

"someone you wouldn't expect, that you knew better than anyone else?" your eyes met his, awkwardly. you hoped he would just get the hint, you'll both ignore this conversation, and act like nothing happened while still being on good terms.

that seemed like the perfect scenario, right?

he stepped closer, not close enough to kiss your shoes, but enough to see the green of his eyes and feel his body heat warm you up like a fire.

"then I wouldn't mind at at," he smiled slightly, melting your heart immediately. "y/n, let me help you."

what did that mean? help you? did he understand, and choose to ignore, or he just didn't, and was pushing you to tell him? you didn't know how to reply, the silence was loud in your head.

"it's okay, I promise. just trust me, it's gonna be okay." he said when you kept silent. it seemed as if he mistook your confusion for dread of what he meant, but this was awkward enough, so you kept silent, praying in your head for this conversation to end, or for the earth to swallow you and never spit you out. they both seemed like good solutions for now.

you realised you probably looked stupid, or rude, just staying silent and ignoring Harry like this, but it was difficult trying to come up with a good reply. but you tried, needing the misery to end.

"can we just forget all this?" mid-whisper, you heard how cliche and pathetic you sounded, feeling betrayed by your inner mind voice, which sounded perfectly fine saying this line in your head.

about to turn away, your head down, Harry seemed to understand how you feel. how, when you two didn't even talk on a daily basis, did he seem to understand you so deeply when even the people closest to you can't? you get it, maybe because you've told him things you haven't told anyone else, or because his eyes are so bright it feels like they are seeing through your mind. or because to him, you're such an open book, you're feelings are just so normal, he understands more than he's ever understood before, which interests him.

"you don't have to walk away, y/n. you don't have to understand everything at once. let me help you this time, and after you can figure it out, okay? just, come with me, and I'll be there, and I won't forget, because I want to show you I understand." he took your hand in his, signalling for you to follow.

though you are grateful he didn't make you have to answer, even though his words settled in your stomach, wrapped around your head and blinded you with something you can't put a name to.

but you did, you did follow him all the way to his bed, in silence, where it was empty and just the two of you.

you felt trepidation about what was going to happen. it clicked in your head, all the talk about loving yourself and helping you. it was scary, just because you weren't sure how you and your body would react to his hands all over your skin, when you so desperately wanted to enjoy it.

the door closed, the walls radiated silence, which bounced off of every solid thing right into your eardrum, deafening you with the loudness of it. your heartbeat felt faster than before, the skin of your hand scorching hot where he held it. his eyes burned to the back of your head, seemingly unmasking everything under the veil constructed to keep your thoughts and emotions at bay.

you tried to hide it all, the subtle excitement, the dread, worry, all the fear, the inexperience. you hoped what he planned wasn't to unmask all of it, because that means being even more vulnerable with him than you've already been.

"y/n," he called softly, your name coming from his mouth like a sweet melody, it awakened something inside of you only the soft voice of him could. it was gentle, but reassuring.

you looked at him, your full attention turned to him and this moment.

"tell me when it's too much." he caressed your cheek softly, instantly creating a hot flush on my skin. "okay?" he pushed.

you nodded, your mind too lost to form legible sentences. you couldn't think, couldn't speak, even if you wanted to. you couldn't move, unless he helped you. you didn't want it to be too much, you hoped it would be just enough.

you knew Harry, you knew he knew what you needed.

"tell me what you're feeling," he leaned his forehead against yours, pulling you even closer.

the soft heat radiating off of him was different than your friends explained, everything was so much different than your friends explained.

"tell me what you want," his lips were so close, almost close enough to feel, to taste. he pulled you even closer, you were inches apart. one hand holding your face, the other feather light on your back, almost as if he's scared to hurt you by holding you too firmly. his lips got closer, and closer, until they made the lightest contact with yours.

they were soft, and tender, and even though it was only a second, a second of his lips on yours, you felt every touch of him, you felt something that made you need him even more, that made you want his lips for even just a second longer.

then, he backed you against the bed, making you lay down and pulling him on top of you, maintaining eye contact. his hands found their way to your shirt, pausing before pulling it up.

"tell me everything." his gentle tone pulled at your heart. reason left you completely, and there was no way you would ever want to stop this moment.

"may I take this off?" he questioned, so serious, but patient, and so gentle. it made you feel so safe and cared for, so comfortable in a way you didn't think possible with anyone else.

you nodded. "yes," breathless, exhilarated, assured.

you didn't think about your insecurities anymore, or your friends, or even why and how this happened. nothing is flying around in your mind anymore except for Harry, and his bright green eyes, looking adoringly at you, while his gentle hands lifted your shirt, slowly pulling it off of you.

then, his fingers went to your pants, unbuttoning, and pulling down the zipper, taking them off of you completely.

you were left in your panties, almost completely naked in contrary to Harry, who was still fully, clothed. it was unnerving, but also exciting. knowing you were actually anticipating him taking off his clothes made you feel good.

"Harry," you called.

"yes, baby?" baby. one word. four letters. the absolute most ordinary and widely used nickname for a significant other, but still, when he called you that, in that tone, it made you want him to repeat it alongside your name for hours on end.

"aren't you going to take it off?" you asked, softly.

"I will, baby. right now." he took your hand, leading it to the hem of his shirt, helping you lift it off him. slowly, his torso was exposed. light abs began peeking from underneath, soft, roughened, pale skin, scars that littered all over his body. he was truly beautiful.

you knew he had endured a lot since he was a little boy, but for some reason you didn't think it would stay with him permanently in physical form. still, for some reason you find his scars and stories beautiful.

he was perfect in an imperfect way. his ribs were sticking out slightly, his nipples were a gorgeous pink, his neck tight and leading to a sharp and hot jawline.

you weren't sure if Harry was anxious about his appearance, but either way, you were grateful that he trusted you with this.

he, his knees on either side of you, sat upright, looking at you as if expecting a comment. a speck of dread mixed with curiosity in his eyes. with every second you stayed silent, his anxiousness worsened, probably thinking you don't find him beautiful, but in truth, you just didn't know how to express your thoughts and emotions.

"harry," you sat upright, resting on your hands. "you're even more beautiful than I imagined you'd be."

a blush spread on his cheeks, looking down. it looked like he wasn't someone who is used to getting compliments, but you hoped he knew how many people saw his beauty.

"t-thank you." he managed to reply, his face pink, looking grateful and sincerely grateful.

your hands found the button of his pants, unbuttoning them while looking at him, smiling. he took your hands in his while helping you get him out of his trousers. when his zipper was undone, you pulled them down a bit before he stood up to take it off completely, leaving you both in only your underwear.

he climbed back on top of you, brushing the hair out of your face, while his hand took yours and travelled down, and down, over your breasts and nipples until they were at your panties.

they were wet already, a huge spot of moisture visible, but for some reason you weren't embarrassed, you only felt more and more turned on.

"y/n," he breathed, looking at your panties with approval, and longing. he led your fingers inside your underwear, holding your fingers against your clit, eliciting a soft moan to escape.

"God, I love hearing those sounds, you sound angelic." he said, while moving your fingers up and down your slit, the first time you actually enjoyed touching yourself.

he let go of your hand. "keep going," he said, when you stopped moving them. he pulled your panties to the side and admired you completely. "baby, you're so beautiful." and in one second he attached his lips to your nipples, sucking and licking and teasing them until they were red peaks, switching from the one to the other.

"oh, Harry." sounds you've never heard yourself make were coming out of you in strings. Harry knew how to work your body so well, it almost felt he was made for you.

"keep touching yourself," he paused teasing your breasts, and left wet trails of kisses up your neck up until he reached your lips, where he hovered above them. "I want to hear you coming by fingering yourself."

his words shocked you slightly, expecting him to do it for you, but the you remembered him telling you he would help you, now getting the full meaning of the message.

"Harry, I can't..." you trailed off, and stopped moving your fingers, even though it felt great.

he lifted you slightly by your hips to make you sit against the headboard, spreading your knees, exposing you to him completely, the ruined wet piece of cloth pushed to the side. you were breathing heavily, anticipating anything.

"I know you can, I'll help, show me baby." he replied, whispering the last part, which only felt fitting.

so you did, you circled your clit while keeping your eyes on harry. he took your hand in his and guided you towards your release. he was on his knees in front of you, close enough you could almost taste him, which you craved in this moment of vulnerability.

you pushed your middle finger in your entrance, going deeper and deeper until your finger is completely buried. at first it felt uncomfortable, but after adjusting, it was something not like any other feeling. your slickness lessened the friction, heightening the pleasure. Harry's hand brushed your hair away from your face, holding it while moving his thumb in a gentle manner.

"I know, you can do this baby, you're doing so good." he kept whispering praises to you while watching you finger yourself, his hand releasing yours to play with your clit.

the pleasure was immense, being extra sensitive because of the time passed not having been turned on while touching. Harry wasn't even inside of you and you already understood what all your friends were gassed about.

you increased your pace, desperately chasing that release. harry watched so intently how you pleasured yourself, his fingers working your clit so well. you felt close to the edge, the tension inside of you building up quickly, coming and going in fast waves.

Harry noticed, and began kissing you intently, and when his hand went down to your nipple and began pinching it slightly, your first ever orgasm crashed into you with the force of a bomb, making your jaw drop as you cried out for Harry.

your legs were trembling, and that feeling deep in your stomach kept intensifying by every motion of Harry's finger on your clit.

you stopped moving your finger, needing a break from the intensity. arching your back slightly as you came down, Harry laid you down completely. "you were so good y/n, so good." spreading you open further, lowering his boxers and tossing them off completely.

"I know, take your time baby, I'll wait. you were so so good." he kept whispering praises to you while rubbing your face in an endearing matter.

for a second you felt disgust by what you just did climb up your throat and cloud your mind, feeling shocked by how you acted, but soon all those thoughts got crushed by the man in front of you.

being hit with the aftershocks from what you just endured, you didn't fully comprehend the situation. it was mind blowing, and you couldn't wait to discover what committing fully was going to feel like.

when he was holding himself up by his hands that were beside your head, it hit you all of a sudden, Harry was completely naked. when you looked down your breath got caught, and you needed a second to comprehend the sight in front of you.

you didn't think it was possible, but he was even more beautiful. he was so hard it almost looked painful. veins travelled the length until it reached his sensitive pink tip that had a leak of precum spilling out. he seemed nervous for your reaction, but he hadn't need to be. he was perfect.

"please, Harry." you moaned, desperate to feel him inside of you, despite knowing it will hurt.

Harry got the hint and lined himself up by your entrance. "Are you sure?" he asked before entering you.

you nodded immediately "jus- just be gentle okay?" you replied, nerves starting to gather in your stomach. his endearing look soothed them a bit though.

"of course baby, don't worry, I know it will hurt but only a bit okay?" he kissed the top of your head, then your lips, his hands, which were holding him up, now running down the length of your body, over your breasts, all the way to your thighs, rubbing up and down them. he was almost completely on top of you, saving his weight while he was on his knees, making sure not to crush you.

he held himself against you, watching you intently for you reaction while he was pushing himself in slowly, making sure to take the time for you to adjust every few inches.

it was no doubt Harry was big, especially for his built. he was long and thick, and despite him being tall and lanky, he managed to get himself a magnificent physique a lot of girls swoon over.

you loved that you got to see him like this.

at the halfway mark, you had to take a couple of seconds to adjust, subconsciously clenching and unclenching around him. pain and pleasure mixed together in a perfect fusion.

"oh, Harry." your back arched slightly, your nipples getting the friction from Harry's chest above you, his hands everywhere on your body, it was great, all of it, even if the pain overrode the pleasure in some instances, at the end it felt greater than anything you've ever felt before.

Harry's moans were something like you've never heard before. he groaned and whispered you praises, his words and sounds settling deep in your core and heart.

when you managed to relax, he began moving. at first slowly, but gradually quickening his pace.

the bed creaked, the headboard banging against the wall, but at this moment you didn't care if someone could hear, in this moment it was only you and Harry.

he moaned less, and definitely quieter than you, but somehow they were still the only thing you heard. the way his face scrunched everytime he bottomed out, or the way his hair fell in his face or the beads of sweat that was trickling down his forehead. everything about him in this moment was like nothing ever before. his hands held your hips down, flexing with every thrust. he bit his lip, seemingly trying to control himself.

"Oh God, y/n-" he kept repeating your name over and over again, and the way it sounded in that voice made your melt every time he said it. his lips found your neck and started kissing and biting and teasing the skin until you were a crying mess more than you already were.

you were screaming, crying, moaning so loud you were sure people could hear you, but you didn't care. no one made you feel like him, you deserved complete freedom during your first time.

the feel of him sliding in and out of you with least amount of friction caused by your slickness was otherworldly. the sounds of his thrusts and your wetness were definitely something you didn't expect to love to hear so much.

"you're so wet baby, you feel that- you hear that? is that what I do to you?" he kept rambling, right next to your ear.

it was hard to hear him talk so softly when the sounds of him pounding into you were so loud, but you loved hearing him talk to you like that, as if he's trying to connect with you while fucking you mercilessly.

"Harry, I- I'm close, I think." it was feeble, at best.

this was different than fingering yourself. a giant wave of pleasure rocked through you so intensely you cried out. it was too much and not enough all at once.

"let go baby, come on. it's okay, I want to hear you falling apart on my dick." his words raised goosebumps all over your skin, making butterflies flutter all around in your stomach.

his pace increased considerably, pulling out completely then thrusting into you with great force. tears sped down your face, looking completely ruined, accurate to what you're feeling.

it hurt, but in such a good way you didn't want it to end. you gripped his back hard enough to leave marks, but that seemed to drive him even more, holding you down hard enough to bruise, he drove into you with such force you were sure to hit your head if he wasn't holding you. your legs were spread widely, heightening the feeling even more, he let go of your hips, grabbing your knees and holding them up, exposing you completely, making him hit a whole different spot that left your jaw hanging.

it all happened so fast, your orgasm hit into you so violently you shook and screamed so loud Harry held his hand on your mouth.

"Baby, you're so good, you're doing so good, keep screaming, I love hearing you like this." he kept praising, holding one of your knees up while his other hand was on your mouth.

"Harry, oh, please," you kept moaning, for everything and nothing at all. it felt extraordinary, you understood the hype around sex completely, and never wanted this to end.

"I'm so close y/n, please let me come. so, so close." he said, even though you didn't ask for permission, he did, and for some reason, that turned you on even more.

"come Harry, go on." you kissed him, and in a second he came undone. you clenched around him, holding him tightly to you while he cried out, riding out his high as his pace became sloppy and his breathing uneven.

he held onto you while driving in and out of you messily. his cum filled you entirely, warming up your insides. it felt like it would never end, this endless pleasure you were both stuck in, Harry, still spilling inside of you, holding you so close waiting to be finished before he could hold you.

eventually he did, and collapsed lightly on top of you, cuddling you while you both caught your breaths and came down.

he pulled out and rested his hands on your sides, turning you so you were laying on his chest, he kissed the top of your head and pulled the covers on top of you, holding you tightly against him.

you stayed like this for a while, just sitting in a comfortable silence, basking in the endearing feeling of him against you. it felt surreal, everything about this felt surreal, and you wanted to cherish the moment for as long as possible.

after a while of comforting silence Harry spoke up, breaking the spell. "how was that?" he asked, rubbing the hair from your face so you could look up at him. "was I any good?" he blushed slightly while asking.

"Harry, I don't think I know how to explain it," you paused, trying to think of something that would be close to what you felt. "you were beyond amazing, and I don't know how to show you how grateful I am to you."

Harry seemed speechless for a couple second before he recovered and gathered his thoughts. "that's really, n-nice, I'm glad, thank you, really.I'm so proud of you. you were great, baby." and he kissed you again, then you both sat in comfortable silence again.

and for the first time you were able to feel like any other, and being vulnerable with Harry was better than anything would have been in a different situation. you loved it.

a/n: hey guys, it's been a while. I've been busy but now since it's summer break I'll *hopefully* be able to update more frequently. this may be a bit rusty, but I hoped you enjoyed it nonetheless!

I also want to say, I definitely know my previous work isn't that great, considering I'm not an actual studied author and English isn't my first language, but I write for fun and all, so I hope you will still like my work despite the many flaws! if anyone has requests/ something to say, don't be scared! I love reading you guys' messages:).

check out my Wattpad...

[whyohwhydoris]

Why Harry and Ginny will likely lack long-term stability.

The other week (month?) I touched on why I think Hermione should have left Ron - as a romantic partner - after he abandons her (and Harry) in Deathly Hallows. But, as a Harmione shipper, the other side of things should be examined as well: Harry and Ginny. While Ginny never betrays Harry in a manner which should illicit an underlying lack of faith, I do believe that the two of them would struggle in the long term.

Ginny - living with the legend

I think that we can divide the Ginny -> Harry dynamic into two phases: The first phase covers books 2 through 5 - this is the blatant hero worship phase. The second phase covers books 6 and 7 - I would call this the celebrity chaser phase. Let's start with phase one: In Chamber of Secrets, we are introduced to Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley. She is presented as shy, as being star-struck by Harry, as struggling to integrate with her peers, as secluded, and as emotionally vulnerable. This collection of traits lead to her becoming a victim of Voldemort through the medium of his diary. In subsequent books she is firmly a background character. Present, but until Order of the Phoenix not really engaging with the Trio in the context of the story. In Order of the Phoenix she brings up how she was possessed by Voldemort and perhaps (fairly) Harry should have remembered that when he was worrying about being possessed. In Half Blood Prince, Ginny explicitly says that Hermione advised her to try and live her life instead of being obsessed with Harry during this period of time. She also says that she didn't stop being obsessed with Harry.

Her inability to speak with Harry during much of this period is a little worrying. Harry is a person. Her family spends significant time with him, including herself. Yet, she describes herself as "never [...] able to talk if you were in the room" to Harry. And Harry doesn't disagree or challenge this assessment. It is implied that this stems from her hero worship of him - as it predates her having any idea of him as a person. And this hero worship is reinforced by Harry saving her life. The upshot of all this is that Fred, George, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Charlie, Bill, and Percy can all talk with Harry and treat him as a person, and Ginny sees this all the time. But somehow, she herself cannot.

This is particularly note-worthy because she apparently has no struggle talking with Hermione about Harry. She can and does engage with literally everyone of importance in young Harry's personal circle, but cannot engage with him. And more importantly still - she confides in Hermione about her feelings regarding Harry. This is almost explicitly a discussion about Ginny's lionization of Harry and her crush on him, and Hermione advises her to not focus in on him like that, but to live her life, and maybe in time he'll notice her. In this way, a very young Hermione advises an even younger Ginny not to obsess, but also not to assume Harry couldn't like her.

This implies a hero-worship of Harry that inherently dehumanizes him. And Ginny is a paragon of that. We see with Ron that he assumes Harry is a glory hound, and doesn't consider that Harry might experience fear or feel helplessness. And Ginny seems to have the same general attitude in this period of time. Even in Order of the Phoenix, when we probably see her first interaction with Harry at a level which feels on-par with the trio, it is a reaction of anger and not sympathy or empathy around Harry's fears. She centers her story instead of Harry's concerns. And it reads - to me - as though she expects better of the great and powerful Oz Harry Potter.

To digress: I think that scene also shows another trait which is a problem - Ginny's arrogance. Ginny is not arrogant in everything, but I think this establishes that she can be unthinkingly so in somewhat ridiculous ways. She asserts that she would be an authority on being possessed by Voldemort because she was possessed by his diary. She inherently assumes that her experience is a universal one. Yet, we know that there are other forms of possession and control - such as the Imperius curse - and that Harry is engaging in and in possession of unique and ancient magics. He is a parselmouth, he experiences magical pain in Voldermort's presence, he has experienced a highly unusual vision that saved Ginny's own father's life literally that month. There is enough there that her arrogance is cavalier. That it assuaged some of Harry's fear is fine. But that Ginny assumes she knows what she is talking about when she has frankly no reason to is a worrying sign.

And this nicely pivots to phase two: Chasing celebrity. Ginny's initial interest in Harry can only, by any definition, be the result of seeing him as a myth and not a person. We know that this is the root of her affection and the persistent strand of it. Yet, we do see her engage with other boys.

In the first case is Michael Corner. Michael does present some obvious bad behaviours - he refuses to engage with Ginny during DA meetings out of a misplaced sense of chivalry, for example. But she states that she dumps him on account of him being a sore-loser over Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at quidditch. That is, she leaves him because she perceives him as slighting Harry. Which is fascinating given that we never see any evidence of her holding Ron's feet to the fire when Ron blamed Harry for getting selected as Triwizard Champion and accused him of being a glory hound for weeks on end.

This pedestalling of Harry is dehumanizing. She doesn't imply that Michael was at all vicious - merely that he was sulky, and yet it is grounds to call it off. This is rather high-handed (and another example of her arrogance), given that she would likely have been displeased had Ravenclaw won or had Michael celebrated such. And she adds a further dig that he ran off to comfort Cho. This sense of superiority about the whole affair speaks to her thinking herself better than Cho or Michael as people. At the same time, interpretations which feed into her hagiography of Harry - such as the implication that he cunningly made himself champion - seem to go unchallenged. She seems not to be taking a pro-Harry stance, so much as embracing or dismissing people and their opinions over how they align with the perceived myth of Harry Potter.

The next case is Dean Thomas. Dean is an interesting parallel to Harry. He is of mixed wizard ancestry. His father was murdered by Death Eaters. He seems to be intelligent, is a quidditch player, and is proactively interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts as he joined the duelling club in Chamber of Secrets and the DA in Order of the Phoenix. He spoke up in defense of Lupin when Snape criticized him in Prisoner of Azkaban, and again when Umbridge did so in Order of the Phoenix. He supported Harry in the Triwizard tournament, and was one of the most ardent supporters of the DA. In many ways, he is much like Harry. But, again, Ginny seems unable to engage with him in a faithful manner because of her obsession with Harry. And her notional reasons for breaking up with him is the fight after Harry bumps her in the common-room entrance under the influence of the luck potion.

This reasoning is interesting though, as Hermione tells us "he was always trying to help her through the portrait hole." But that is precisely the kind of behaviour that Harry presents frequently - unthinking courtesy and help. It was never about Dean treating Ginny as incapable - in fact, he was not able to speak freely with her because she was routinely going off at him. It was Ginny finding an excuse - something paralleled by Ron being called a coward for not breaking up with Lavender when he was done using her. And that's what it is - Ginny is using Dean. Not as blatantly and carelessly as Ron used Lavender, but still.

So, it doesn't actually seem to be the content of their characters that is driving Ginny away from these people. Michael Corner is enough like Harry that he and Cho are implied to date. Dean is a comfortable parallel for Harry - up to and including running for his life as an enemy of the state and being nearly murdered and ultimately captured by Death Eaters in Deathly Hallows. She notionally leaves Dean because he treats her as incapable, but is accepting of Harry putting her in a box when he goes to chase Voldemort.

And this Hero Worship is seen elsewhere. A major plot point in Order of the Phoenix is the naming of "Dumbledore's Army" - a name Ginny suggests. And her reasoning is explicitly because she sees Dumbledore as a heroic figure feared by the establishment. She sees a need to be playing at a certain kind of heightened reality. And when Harry tells her what he's going to do - to pursue Voldemort - she articulates it as a culmination of a hero's journey. She says Harry needs to do this, but she doesn't identify it as a necessary evil Harry must bear to earn freedom from this Sword of Damocles which has cast its long, harsh shadow on his life. Instead, it is his heroic destiny. So, what am I really saying? Well, I don't think that Ginny actually knows and understands Harry as a person. I think she believes in the mythos of Harry Potter and superimposes that on him. I think that, because of her access, this is nuanced and subtler than his other fans. But I think it is, for her, a detailing of this hagiography and not a debunking of this myth. And I think that, because of this, she will be manifestly incapable of actually loving Harry as Harry and not as that myth, which will kindle tension and resentment. She is in love with his fiction. And by the late series she is sufficiently arrogant as to lack the self-reflection required to recognize that

JKR's subsequent work has been woeful in its quality, coherence, and ambition. It's become more polemic rather than artistic. Even during the original books, we see that she has an elevated sense of her self in the way she carries through certain plot lines. But, to even touch on Cursed Child - Ginny cannot challenge or engage with Harry's inabilities as a parent, merely providing milquetoast platitudes suggesting he'll figure it out. And that behaviour reads as an extension of this idea that Harry Potter has the answers, that he is special in that way.

But I'm focusing on Ginny, so what about Harry's role in all this?

Harry - taking it easy

Harry's life has been defined by trauma. There is the obvious trauma of his parent's murder, and of the routine attempted murders he must survive. But there is a broader emotional trauma. His life with the Dursleys makes him emotionally subdued and internalized. He is prone to bursts of anger. He lacks the capacity - as a result of the incredible burden he must carry - to support the emotional welfare of others beyond a small chosen few - almost exclusively Hermione and Ron, and honestly mostly Hermione as Ron is rather brusque with his own emotions.

We see, when Harry is dating Cho, that Harry struggles to engage at an emotional level. Cho is dealing with her own trauma around Cedric's death - I rather think her suspicion of Hermione is motivated in part by a sense of survivor's guilt making her feel like she isn't wanted and like she isn't permitted security in her emotions. Harry is manifestly incapable of meeting this - he has to have much of it explained to him by Hermione (one of the only people who can engage him at an emotional level - along with Hagrid and Sirius).

Harry struggles with the fact that Cho can't just be something which isn't tainted by Voldemort in a manner that costs him. He even directly tells her not to cry after mentioning Hermione because of her reaction on their disastrous date - a date where Harry is trying to just be Harry but cannot escape being Harry Potter. It is among his meanest moments in the books. He closes off with her because he doesn't have the capacity, let alone the tools, to deal with it.

Enter Ginny. Ginny is intentionally presenting herself to attract Harry. And she does. But they are presenting as having vanishingly little in the way of emotional engagement. They have fun - they laugh, and they play quidditch, and they get up to the kind of shenanigans teens of the opposite sex often do.

But we never see Ginny and Harry engage each other in the arena of difficult emotionality. In fact, we see Ginny demean Harry when he reveals his concerns about possession in Order of the Phoenix and she treats him like he is an idiot about it. And while Harry is chagrined because he did forget her experience, Ginny is vitally wrong. Harry is literally possessed by Voldemort - he is carrying a fragment of Voldemort within his very soul. He is potentially an open book to Voldemort, and is directly mislead by the very thing that Ginny dismisses in this very book.

But, we've seen Harry long for that lack of deep engagement before. When he was being buried by the weight of the impending first task in Goblet of Fire, he longs for Ron - because Ron is a laugh. He's fun. He's easy.

Ginny is Ron with breasts.

Okay, that is a lot reductive. But in terms of what Harry does, it is broadly the sense I get. His attraction to Ginny is not fueled by a deep sense of one-ness with her soul. It isn't because she understands him and he understand her. It's because she is really freaking hot, and is the kind of generally fun and easy person he gravitates to in order to escape the challenges of his life. That he can seemingly so easily set her aside - he doesn't seem to dwell on her at all for many months until her name is mentioned by Dean Thomas and company in Deathly Hallows - seems to speak to this. She is a place where his being Harry Potter aligns with the immediate desires of Harry himself.

Harry is not in a place to actually deeply engage with someone until after the specter of Voldemort is cleared from his life. Honestly, he lacks the skills to do so after that.

And so, I suspect that Ginny presents something easy and fun, but that will ultimately not be fulfilling to Harry. I do not doubt that there is real affection and attraction. He is clearly a hormonal time-bomb and she lights his fuse. But, he is not nourishing his inner self with her, so much as salving his ache and pains. His soul is battered, and being with Ginny is the doctor-prescribed regime of light activity to avoid straining it while it heals. But she isn't the subsequent strength training required to make it fully functional again.

And, to wrap it all up:

I have no doubt that Harry and Ginny fucked like bunnies in the years and months after the Battle of Hogwarts. That they had fun, and that they have affection for each other. But I do not believe they have staying power as a couple.

Ginny's seeming inability to see Harry as a person and not a prophecy - something which was strengthened when he rescued her in Chamber of Secrets and which his subsequent legendary acts reinforce - means she will never be able to provide the symbiosis of a healthy relationship that encourages both people to grow.

In turn, while Harry will be happy to stop moving for once - to not have to grow so fast and brutally - in time, he will be restless. Not because he wishes for his former life of daring-do, but because he will feel hollow, devoid of the rich inner life which can only be achieved by learning from others. And so, he will grow tired of this easy thing, of this convenient thing.

And when that happens, I suspect it will be a rude awakening for both of them. Harry will look back on how much he truly lost in all those years (not because of Ginny mind, be because of the emotional ruin it all left him in). And Ginny will realize that her conception of this perfect life with him was just a fantasy she conjured, and will also be devastated by having to learn who she is in the world outside of her self-assigned destiny as Harry Potter's partner.

[sophie-hatter-jenkins]

Tattoo

Written for @jilymicrofics using August prompt no. 26

James and Lily react very differently to teenage Harry's new body art!

890 words, rated T (though I'm being very cautious there, it's probably really Gen)

Read below, or on AO3

“Harry James Potter!” Lily Potter stopped dead in the doorway to her seventeen year old son’s bedroom. “What the hell is that?”

Harry scrabbled into the t-shirt he’d just snagged from his wardrobe and spun around to face his mother. “What is what?” he asked, brows pinched in a convincing imitation of confusion.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Harry!” Lily replied sharply. “I know what I saw.”

Quick as a flash, Harry shifted gears. “Then why are you asking?”

Lily’s eyes narrowed. “If you don’t cut the attitude, we’re going to have a serious problem here.”

“Actually, the problem is that you didn’t knock before barging into my room,” Harry shrugged. “Perhaps we ought to discuss your lack of respect for my privacy?”

“That is NOT the point, Harry!” Lily struggled to keep her temper under control. “We need to talk about this.” 

“No, we don’t,” Harry told her, flatly. “I’m of age now. It’s none of your business.”

“I think you’ll find it’s very much my business while you live under my roof!”

“Really? What happened to ‘my body, my rules’?” countered Harry.

“Harry, that is enough!” she snapped back.

Unsurprisingly, the rising volume of their discussion drew James from his study. “What’s going on?” he enquired. 

“Your son,” she told him, “has got himself a tattoo!”

James’s eyes widened. “Have you really? What did you get? Where is it?” 

“James!” Lily admonished him, though she was silently cursing herself for not anticipating his response.

James’s hazel eyes radiated innocence. “What? I’m only showing a fatherly interest!” He almost managed not to smile as gestured towards Harry. “Well, come on then - show me!”

With a sly grin at his mother, Harry slipped the t-shirt off again and turned around, displaying an intricate line drawing of a dragon that twisted down his left shoulder blade. “It’s a Hungarian Horntail.”

“Oh Harry,” she sighed. “What on earth possessed you?”

Harry looked a bit sheepish. “Erm… Ginny said she thought it would look good.”

“Ginny said…” Lily paused as she tried to wrap her head around this new bombshell. “Harry, you went and got a tattoo because a girl told you to? Of all the idiotic, irresponsible…. James, help me out here!”

“I’m hardly in any position to criticise, am I?” laughed James, lifting his shirt to flash the tattoo that sprawled across his ribs - a bouquet of lilies entwined around their wedding date, just above Harry’s name and his date of birth.

“That’s different!” spluttered Lily. “That means something. You didn’t get it on a whim because a girl said so!”

“No,” he conceded. “But I got the first one on a whim because me and my mates got pissed one night and thought it would be a laugh, which is arguably worse.”

Harry’s eyes lit up, ever eager for stories of his father’s juvenile misbehaviour. “Really? You never told me that.”

“Yeah. The one on my arm,” James explained, referring to the words Mischief Managed that wrapped around his bicep, bordered by a trail of paw and hoof prints. “I was the same age as you are now. Me, Sirius, Remus and Peter all got the same one. Your Nanna hit the roof when she saw it.”

“I can understand why,” muttered Lily.

“I seem to remember you telling me it was sexy the first time you saw it.” James’s lips twitched with amusement and Lily felt her cheeks colour at the memory of exactly what had happened immediately after her then-boyfriend had showed her his new tattoo.

Harry, as sharp as ever, did not miss the double standard. “So you like Dad’s tattoos, but there’s something wrong with mine? You know how ridiculous that is, right?”

Lily was forced to concede that he had a point. “I’m sorry, darling,” she sighed. “It’s just that you’ll always be my baby boy, and I want to protect you. I hate to think of you doing something you’ll regret.”

“But I don’t regret it!” Harry replied, hotly. “How do you know that I ever will?”

Lily held up her hands, placating him. “I don’t. And I don’t think your father has ever regretted any of his.“ 

“Nope,” James confirmed. 

“Then what’s the problem?” Harry hauled his t-shirt back on, clearly frustrated. “I really love it, you know. The dragon was Ginny’s idea, but I’ve wanted a tattoo for ages. I didn’t get it on a whim.”

“Harry, I think you’re perfect just as you are,” she explained, “and the idea of you changing anything about yourself feels uncomfortable to me. But I know that you’re old enough to make your own choices, and despite the impression I just gave you, I do respect that.”

Harry shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Thanks, Mum.”

“For what it’s worth, I do think that it’s a beautiful drawing.” In lieu of an olive branch, Lily held out her arms, and her son obliged her with a hug. “So. What did Ginny think?”

Pink spots formed on Harry’s cheeks. He shoved his hand through his hair, and the familiarity of the gesture, so very like his father, made Lily’s heart swell. “She… um… she liked it.” 

James wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his son. “Oh, I bet she did.”

Harry flushed an even deeper shade of pink. “Dad!”

Lily laughed. “I like that girl. She has good taste.”

[drarryspecificrecs]

2024.02  ~ Top 6 longest fics posted on AO3

1. The Stag and the Dragon: The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by Jesse_James [T, 180k]

►On the night of October 31st 1980, in an attempt to subvert prophecy, The Dark Lord Voldemort launches a pair of attacks to rid him of the one chosen to defeat him. But when one fails, the world is changed forever. But in this universe, things are different. The rules are not always the same. And things will not always be as we remember. And with a different choice made with a young orphaned Harry's future, the consequences of this one act will echo across fate. /// Meanwhile, in a different family, another boy struggles against what he is, and what he was born to be. All while his father seems to orchestrate more than just his life.

2. Empty Spaces by nori_mari [T, 125k]

►What do you do when everything you know comes to an end? The battle is over, Voldemort's gone, everything they ever wanted has come to pass. So why is it so hard to return to a “normal” life? How does one simply pick up the pieces and move on? When your entire life and identity have revolved around this one thing for so long… what do you do you have left of yourself when that one thing is over?

3. Papa Needs Daddy's Help by @amillionregrets [E, 94k]

►Harry's life revolves entirely around work these days, and he's deeply engrossed in it, as usual, when an urgent fire-call from Ron abruptly turns his world upside down. Apparently, a four-year-old girl with emerald eyes and long black hair has shown up at Ron's shop, claiming to be Harry's daughter and seeking his help to save her papa.

4. The Boy from the Piano Shop by @soliblomst [M, 90k]  *typo

►After going blind in a reckless attempt to avenge Ginny's death, Harry battles with severe depression. One day, he stumbles upon a quaint piano restoration shop in the heart of London and meets the owner, a kindly old man, and his introverted young apprentice, whose voice sounds strangely familiar. As Harry and Draco slowly reconnect through private piano lessons, the small workshop becomes Harry's refuge, offering him a glimmer of hope in a world without eyes.

5. An Addendum For Depressed Authors by @queenie-jinny [E, 86k]

►‘The Misadventures of Harrison Portier’ six-part book series by J.E.P has been on the Daily Prophet’s best sellers list for 177 weeks straight, despite the author’s insistent anonymity and continuing avoidance of the public eye. After a long hiatus, the elusive final novel in the septology is about to hit the shelves, and Draco Malfoy, avid reader of the series and self-proclaimed number one fan (a proclamation he’d made to absolutely none save for himself), is determined to be the first person to read it. When the epilogue of the book leaves much to be desired, Draco has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. Thus begins a stormy correspondence that threatens to disrupt Harry’s hard-earned peaceful routine and maybe change his life in the process.

6. Draco's Splendid Decisions by @jocundasykes [E, 69k]

►Stuck in the doldrums of a rubbish summer holiday, an unexpected invitation beckons you back to the halls of Hogwarts for an eighth year. Should you go, and endure another round of academia? Dive into the mundane drudgery of work? Or escape it all with an international getaway? /// You're a free man. What happens next is up to you.

—

※ Word count: 1k ~ 10k

※ Word count: 10k ~ 40k

alive is a color you don't own by sectumsempra [E, 15k]

armstrong limit by @brosamigos [E, 11k]

Crossed Wires by @skeptiquewrites [E, 11k]

Enclosed is a Memory by Anonymous [M, 12k]

I'll Find You Again (I Always Do) by @dodgerkedavra [E, 15k]

The Month of Giving by Justlikewriting [M, 20k]

Nobody Except For You by @mistsound [T, 10k]

Oh, Overwhelming Passion and Seduction by AtelierOfStories [E, 19k]

These Old Feelings by Reloumi [E, 24k]

Time to indulge by @onehundredflamingos [E, 10k]

Until Now by crpage [T, 11k]

Warm Touch Makes No Sound by @rainjulyx [E, 13k]

—

Ongoing Fest/Exchange

※ Fics would be listed elsewhere.

Knot Another Writing Fest: Knot Again 2023 | @hpknotfest

[hrefna-the-raven]

His first

Masterlist - Horror masterlist - Misc.

Kenneth "Leatherface" Slaughter x female reader

Summary: You moved to Harlow around a year before the events of the movie and started to befriend the nice old lady who lived with her son in the old orphanage.

Notes: *sigh* I just want that old man to be happy...🥹 I took this to describe his scars, I like the idea of this concept art of Leatherface for the 2022 movie 😍

Reader: short female reader, no specific descriptions used

Part 1

You happily hummed a cheerful melody as you closed the lids of the numerous boxes filled with different fingersfoods and salads before finally packing up the large chocolate cake and a handful of candles. With a sigh of relief, you made your way up the road to the old orphanage, struggling to carry the heavy bags without throwing their contents around too much. You barely knocked at the door before it swung open, revealing a hulk of man, standing there in silence staring you down.

"Happy birthday, Kenny", you exclaimed with delight, unable to contain your giggles as you flashed him a warm smile and tenderly brushed your hand against his arm.

Kenneth froze for a moment, unsure how to react to the surprise. You had been visiting them every evening for the last year but this was the first time you were around for his birthday. For nearly fifty years, it had always just been him and Ma since he found himself stranded here. He stepped aside, gesturing for you to come inside, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. You headed straight for the kitchen where Ginny awaited your arrival while he almost ran up the stairs, the door of his room slamming shut.

"Let me help you set the table", Ginny offered, wincing slightly while she fell back unto the chair she tried to get up from.

"No, no, no, please, save your strength", you interjected, continuing to arrange plates and food on the table, "I promised to organise everything this year, so no worries."

"You're the sweetest! We were truly blessed when you moved to our lost little town and with all the things you've done for me and my Kenny."

Without hesitation, you wrapped your arms around her, embracing her tightly and Ginny began to sob, motherly patting your back.

"It's only normal, you've been like a family to me, I care a lot for you both."

"Kenny feels the same way about you, you know. In fact, he's quite taken with you."

She pulled away, a suggestive smile playing on her lips, and you felt a rush of warmth spreading across your cheeks. You've grown rather fond of Kenneth, enjoying him being this silent yet gentle presence and, over time, you also learned how to interpret his different grunts and huffs, sharing precious moments together. Today, you had planned to finally confess your feelings to him but a sudden fear loomed over you like a bleak shadow. He was much older than you and had been living on his own all this time. Would he even feel the same for you? You noticed his uneasiness whenever he was around you, but that didn't necessarily mean that he shared the same feelings. It could as well mean the exact opposite and you'd ridicule yourself tonight in laying your heart out.

"I'll put the candles on, go and get the birthday boy", Ginny's voice interrupted your trail of thoughts and doubts, "I'm sure he will be all dressed up for you by now."

You nodded and made your way upstairs, taking a deep breath before knocking at the door at the end of the hallway. You heard a grumble and opened the door, smiling as you entered. Kenneth was sitting on the bed, buttoning up his shirt. You paused in your tracks, your eyes scanning his tall figure, basked in the gentle golden hue of the setting sun that shone through the window. He was truly a captivating sight, now even more so as he was dressed all in black, with a pair of finest pants held up by crimson suspenders, a fitting striped shirt with rolled-up sleeves, his long dark grey mane tamed for once and neatly bound together at the back of his head, and, the final touch, his neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper beard.

He glanced up, his eyes holding a tenderness while the rest of his body betrayed the anxiety coursing through him. You had shown him kindness and affection, yet the self-doubt would never cease to plague him. Every woman he ever met ran from him in terror and despite you having proven to be different and him being all dressed up, he could never hide his ugly. The hideous thick scar stretching across his left cheek, the permanent disfigurement of his nose after it had been broken many years ago, the crooked yellowed teeth and the fact that old age had finally caught up with him, unable to hide behind a mask, it all gnawed at him. No matter what Ma told to others, no amount of elegant clothes or sweetly spoken words could truly hide the ugliness he believed himself to possess.

Your lips parted as you drank in the image of the man before you, determined to etch it forever into your memory and, before you knew it, your body betrayed your own hesitations and stumbled forward, your hands reaching out to gently cup his cheeks while your lips pressed against his, swallowing the startled gasp that had escaped him. Kenneth found himself nearly drawning in the sea of his selfdoubt when a wave of the impossible suddenly drifted him away, carrying him to shores he'd always thought never to set foot on. He truly wanted to hold back, give you time to realise the mistake you had stumbled into, but his own body betrayed him too, acting on its own will as his arms wrapped around your waist and he finally kissed back. It was sloppy, teeth nibbling too hard at your lips before his tongue pushed past, whirling in your mouth without purpose. You were his very first, the first to not scream or run, to share kindness, and to kiss him. As you pulled away, a soft chuckle escaped your lips as you tried to regain your breath, wiping away the lingering wetness of the kiss.

Kenneth's gaze was fixed on your face, carefully observing for any indication to validate his fears but you simply smiled at him, still leaning in so closely that he could feel the heat radiating from your face while your fingertips traced the scar on his cheek.

"Shall we go down and celebrate?", you whispered, "this day...evening belongs all to you, after all."

With a quick peck on his lips, you held his hand, your fingers intertwining with his as you guided him downstairs.

The soft flickering of the candles on the cake cast a soft glow throughout the kitchen and you lead Kenneth towards the table.

"Happy birthday!", you and Ginny shouted at the same time, "make a wish!"

While Ma and you were cheering, he pulled you into a hug before kneeling next to you to rest his forehead against yours, humming softly. He knew exactly what he'd wish for this time and so he took a deep breath and blew out the candles while desperately holding back the tears that formed in the corner of his eyes.

Part 2 (18+)

[mushroom-words]

Weep Not for the Memories || Ginny Weasley

Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing: Ginny Weasley x Fem!Reader Words: 1184 Note: The only mention of reader's gender is the pet name "princess." So I listed it as Fem!Reader, but honestly, you can picture it however you want. Warnings: Mentions of the death of a loved one. Grief. Ginny coming to terms with Fred's death. Summary: Ginny struggles with the grief of losing her brother. You take her to visit his gravestone so she can come to terms with the loss.

I couldn't find the original creator of this GIF to give credit. The name of the blog is on the GIF itself.

THE SUN TOUCHED the field like a comforting hand extending from the heavens. You weaved your way between the flowers blooming from the freshly sprouted grass. Your hand tugged your girlfriend forward gently until you stopped before the headstone marking her brother’s final resting place.

       Fred Weasley had died a hero. A friend. Someone who loved hard and who was loved infinitely in return. If you closed your eyes, you could still hear his laugh as he threw his head back and see his cheeky grin as he winked at you. Your chest tightened at the memories that you clung to with everything you had.

        “I don’t know about this, (Y/N),” Ginny muttered, shifting on her feet as she clutched a folded piece of parchment tightly in her hands. “It feels silly.”

        “My grandmother always used to say our loved ones watched over us long after they passed,” you said quietly, your eyes scanning the name etched into the gravestone. “That they could hear when we talked to them, and that they listened—even if they can’t say anything back.”

        You tore your eyes away from where your friend was immortalized to look at the grief-stricken face of your girlfriend. Her soft features were drawn in the same agony that you felt every time someone brought him up. He had been her big brother. A sibling who she had fought with often, who had done everything in his power to annoy and tease, but one who had loved her fiercely and would have died to protect her. In a way, he did. He died to help save everybody.

        Ginny let loose a breath. Her hands trembled slightly, her fingers nearly ripping into the parchment as they tightened. You stayed silent after your words of encouragement. It was up to her what she wanted to do, and you would support whatever she decided.

        After a long moment, she swallowed thickly. “Will you stay here with me?”

        “I’ll stay with you for as long as you’ll have me.” You squeezed her hand reassuringly. She looked at you, those big blue eyes watery with the unshed tears that you wanted to wipe away. But you didn’t. You just gave her a small smile and nodded once.

        Ginny sucked in a shaky breath and slowly unfolded the parchment. She began to read:

“Dear Freddie,

        It’s Ginny—your sister. I know I haven’t come here much. I know I probably should, but… It’s hard. Accepting that you’re gone.

        I found one of your old sweaters that Mum made you a few years ago. It still smells like you. I’ve been wearing it at night. It helps me go to sleep—I hope you don’t mind too much. I know you never liked me touching your stuff.”

She sniffed. The tears in her eyes slowly began to drip from her lashes. You squeezed her hand again, reassuring her. She looked at you, her bottom lip pushed out in a trembling pout.

        “You’re doing good, baby,” you said quietly. “Keep going, if you want.”

        She nodded her head.

“We’re not the same without you. There’s no laughter at home anymore. No smiles.

        There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t miss you. Do you remember that time when I was little, maybe about six or seven, and you put that glue on my pillow before I went to sleep? I was so mad at you… but I’d give anything for you to do it again. I’d give anything to just have you back.

        I still expect to see you around. I go around a corner and brace myself for you and George to jump out and try to scare me. But it never happens, and I’m having trouble accepting that it never will.

        When I can’t sleep at night, I go into your room and just lie down in your bed. I imagine you’re there comforting me like you used to do when I had nightmares. I’m the only person who’s gone in there since you left us. George doesn’t even go in there anymore.

        A big part of me went with you, Freddie. It’s killing me. It’s killing all of us. Mum still accidentally mistakes George for you…”

Ginny choked on a sob.

“I just want this nightmare to end. Home isn’t home without you. It’s not the same. The gnomes are running amuck in the garden. Mum’s burning the food. Dad doesn’t ramble about Muggles anymore. Ron is quiet. Percy is tearing his hair out. Bill and Charlie won’t even talk to us right now. George is just an empty shell. (Y/N) breaks down whenever your name is mentioned. And me… I’m slowly dying on the inside.

        I tried to move on, for the family. For myself. For (Y/N). I tried to get over losing you because it’s what you would have wanted. But I can’t. We need you—I need you.

        I didn’t even get to say goodbye to you.

    ��   (Y/N) suggested writing this letter to help me say all the things I needed to tell you. I don’t know if you can hear me… but I need this closure. And I hope, wherever you are, you’ve gotten yours. I hope you’re resting peacefully.

        I love you so much, Freddie. But I need to say goodbye. Just one last time.

        Goodbye, Freddie. I’ll never forget you.”

With a shaky breath, Ginny folded the parchment back up in her hand. She blinked through the tears tracking down her cheeks. You swallowed against the unshed ones burning your eyes. This was about her. Not you. You’d grieved, and while you wouldn’t say you’d necessarily moved on, you’d just barely grasped onto accepting that Fred Weasley was gone from this world.

        A sob wrenched its way out of her throat. Her legs gave out from underneath her. She collapsed to the ground in front of the gravestone. Raising her hands to cover her face, she let out the most agonizing cry you’d heard. It spoke of the devastation, the rage, the utter despair that had been wrestling inside of her.

        You fell to your knees beside her and immediately pulled her into you. She slumped into your arms as she finally let herself feel everything she had tried to keep bottled up inside. This was why you had suggested she write the letter and read it aloud to him. Even if he couldn’t hear her, she needed this closure.

        You closed your eyes, letting a few tears slip out as you rocked back and forth, just letting her cry as much as she needed to.

        A hand touched your shoulder. When you looked up, your breath was stolen from your lungs. Familiar blue eyes twinkled with mischief, a grin tugging at his lips that spoke of trouble to be caused. Your lips parted silently.

        “Take good care of her, princess.” The term of endearment tugged at your heart. Nobody had called you that since that day.

        You swallowed thickly and whispered, “I will, Freddie.”

        He squeezed your shoulder, and with a blink of your watery eyes, he was gone.

[dream-with-a-fever]

Hinny prompt

After the war Harry and Ginny are taking things slow since they are still grieving and he doesn’t want to pressure her into anything. At the same time living with her again feels impossible because everything about her turns him on. She goes for a morning run and he watches her from his window. She goes for a swim and he can stop staring. He smells her hair fresh from the shower and can’t think straight. Ginny starts to realize his struggle and decides to tease him into making a move. She “accidentally” bumps into him in the hall in just her bathrobe, she is carrying her laundry and a pair of panties falls from the basket in front of him. All sorts of teasing until one of them breaks.

i think you just about wrote the fic right here!!! idk if there’s anything more i could add!! i love the concept tho, and so so in character. just PERFECT!

[thepersistenceandthevision]

I loved the fanfic Beasts by whinlatter so much, I made an 8-tracks style playlist about it.

What makes it an 8-tracks style playlist?  Because it has 16 songs – 8 tracks for Side A and 8 tracks for Side B.  No more.  No less.

There were two songs that initially inspired this playlist, and it would have been easy to make a 5 or 6 song long playlist.  Or I could have every song that had a lyric that fit, and would have made a 20-30 song playlist.  But 16 songs exactly?  That was the challenge… and the fun. I wanted to make sure every song fit lyrically with the story and musically with each other.  Sometimes I chose covers rather than the original artist, not because I liked the song better, but because it fit with the other music. It got me to dig through old songs I half remembered and discover new artists I'd never heard before.

But I’m talking too much.  See below for each song and why I thought it fit.  Whinlatter has done beautiful work writing a story that is melancholy and hopeful, dark and funny, about characters that are broken and hurting each other and loving and strong all at the same time. I looked for songs that carried the same spirit.

“Side A” is Ginny trying, and somewhat idealizing her relationship with Harry, and everything up to New Years and their fight.  “Side B” is the fight and fear and hurting and growing and trying.

(The quotes don’t always line up in that order because sometimes characters have beautifully concise thoughts in later chapters about their earlier actions.)

Side A

i, Carrion (Icarian) // Hozier

Notes: This is one of the two songs that made me want to make a playlist.  When I first heard this song, I took all the references to flying and falling very literally and thought of Ginny struggling with Quidditch after the war.  However, after many re-listens and reading the lyrics more closely, I see this song as Harry’s and his unconscious dependence on Ginny being “light” for him, and so we start the playlist with his POV because we enter fanfics in general from the POV of the source material.

Lyric: Once I had wondered what was holdin' up the ground / But I can see that all along, love, it was you all the way down

and

 Lyric: If I should fall on that day / I only pray / don’t fall away from me

2. Dead Girl Walking // Jensen McRae

Quote: ‘And your name?’

She hesitates, a fraction too long to lie. ‘Ginny,’ she says stiffly. ‘Ginny Weasley.’

[…]

‘But [..] she – she died, didn’t she?’ he asks anxiously, turning to Tuft for clarification. ‘In the Chamber of Secrets debacle? In 1993?’

-Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

and

Sometimes I worry all I have to show for seven years of school are a lot of nightmares and bad memories. I don’t want to feel like that. I think I keep coming back because I think I can make it different, this time. 

            -Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

Lyric:  Aches in my body like I stayed up boxing / I’m a dead girl walking / but I’ve walked this far.

Notes: Jensen McRae is a really amazing up-and-coming singer.  I love this song in particular but there are many others you should check out and enjoy!

3. Landslide // Dagny

Lyric: Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love? / Can the child within my heart rise above? / Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? / Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Notes: A classic song about the struggles of growing up and life not being what you planned.  I knew I wanted this song on the playlist for a while and honestly the hardest part was figuring out if I wanted the original or a cover, and if so, which cover!  Ultimately, I went with Dagny because I thought her sound best fit with the rest of the playlist. 

4. Brooklyn // Emily James

Quote:  ‘Yeah. Sometimes. I mean – I know we joke in letters, and stuff. But it’s just – if I’m having a bad day, or it’s all a bit – much.’ His face twitches slightly. ‘I sometimes just go to a shop and buy something. That we could have in our house one day. I don’t know. It’s just nice. To buy us some egg-cups, or whatever.’

Beasts, Chapter 11: hatched by whinlatter

Lyric:  When I'm alone, I hold you like a locket / Next to my heart where you'll never get lost as / We run through moments we don't know yet

and

Quote:  It’s stupid how happy it makes her, seeing him all cocky, flirting with her in the old kitchen, letting him snog her up against the rough stone walls and hoist her up on the counter top.

Beasts, Chapter 9: wintering by whinlatter

Lyric:  I wanna wake up in my sheets and your T-shirt

Notes: Just pretend the singer is daydreaming about meeting up with her boyfriend in London instead of in Brooklyn.

5. Hope – Acoustic // Tom Rosenthal, Lizzy McAlpine

Lyric:  Can you hold me from afar? / Pretend that you are closer / Keep all our memories in the jar / And place it right beside you

and

Lyric:  You are in my heart when it has hope

6. Let Light Be Light // Lizzy McAlpine

Notes: Lizzy McAlpine might win the award for the most songs that are almost perfect for this playlist, but then had one or two lines that really changed the tone.  I switched many of her songs in and out but ultimately picked “Let Light Be Light” in honor of how hard Ginny was trying to be light over Christmas.

Quote:  ‘We’ve been writing a lot. Every day, pretty much. I’ve never – with anyone – I dunno. It meant a lot to me, hearing from you. But it’s weird to think you didn’t write down anything that was actually happening to you. That you were leaving stuff out, I mean. You must have been scared. But you never said.’

She looks past him, to the crack in the door to Regulus’ room, to floorboards covered in ink. Imagines childish handwritten words on a page, the rattle of the Boggart cupboard. To the Dark Lord. Dear Tom.

‘I just find it hard,’ she says, finally. ‘To say this stuff. To write it down. How I’m feeling, what I’m scared about. Especially to someone else. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. It went so wrong, before.’

Beasts, Chapter 11: hatched by whinlatter

Lyric:   I don't like getting attached / It makes me feel like I've done something bad / 'Cause I'm not dependent and I know that / So why am I scared I'm reliving / That part of my past?

7. Speak // Ben Abraham

Notes: Another song for Harry – I think this song is a great fit for the room at the top of the house by whinlatter, which serves as a little “missing moment” from Beasts.

Quote: he loves her letters. no-one’s written to him since 1996, not since sirius. and now the funniest loveliest most magical girl in the world writes him five times a week. they sail through his window, like little guiding balls of light from forever ago, pure illumination. they're the best bits of his week, her letters, paper proof of her love.

she's lying to him, though. she keeps saying she's fine. he knows that's not true.

the room at the top of the house by whinlatter

Lyric:  You're hiding like a memory / Teasing like a girl I used to know

and

Quote:  all he wants to say is: gin, stop laughing a sec. stop lying. he wants to take the box of photos off her and put it on the side and hold her hands and say come on, stop this, tell me. he imagines crouching before her, asking: what's going on? what's up with you? and what did you mean, when you said it’d be ok, if i left and did christmas without you? did you think that’s what i want? paranoid thoughts: are you trying to hurt me? why would you not tell me the truth?

the room at the top of the house by whinlatter

Lyric: I panic as you try to disappear / I reach out with my fingers / And try to pull the letters back in line / But your words spin out of order / And the pounding in my chest is out of time / And I just want to speak

8. The Archer – Live from Paris // Taylor Swift

Notes: Forgive me, I still remember listening to Taylor Swifts first album in middle school and must include her in almost all my playlists.  I think this song fits ridiculously well, though.  Look at all the parallels!

Quote: You ask Ginny Weasley if she thought of herself as a child and see what she says. By her own description, she was a combatant. She was a soldier. She had her own war to fight. 

Beasts, Chapter 14: the vulture by whinlatter

Lyric:  I’m ready for Combat // I say I don’t want this, but what if I do?

and

Quote: …she can’t bring herself to pick up the quill and tell him. It’s so lonely up here. I’m so scared about this inquiry. I’m so scared I’ll let everyone down. I’m so scared you’re going to change your mind.

Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

Lyric:  I've got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you

and

Quote:  She’s sat up in her bunk, cross-legged in her old Quidditch jumper, eyes scratching from lack of sleep. Under her bare legs, the sheets are still slick from the sweat she woke up in, retching and shuddering, kicking furiously against the bedclothes. Sleep: always the first thing to go, the first comfort to leave her when storms are brewing.

Beasts, Chapter 3: nocturnal by whinlatter

Lyric:  I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost / The room is on fire, invisible smoke

and

Quote: ‘You think they tortured you so badly you think they might have broken something in your brain. ’

‘That makes it sound loads worse than it is. I don’t think that is what it is – ’

‘Like Neville’s parents.’ 

Beasts, Chapter 11: reared by whinlatter

Lyric:  All the king's horses, all the king's men / Couldn't put me together again

Side B

9. Sick of Losing Soulmates // Dodie

Quote:  ‘I wasn’t lying. It wasn’t like that, it’s not like I was trying to lie to you, to get some kick out of it – ’ 

‘No. You just didn’t tell me anything at all. Loads better.’ 

Beasts, Chapter 11: hatched by whinlatter

Lyric:  Brave face, talk so lightly, hide the truth

and

Quote:  ‘All those endless letters to you, how were you ever going to feel like you could be honest with him? Having all that to deal with.’ Hermione looks exasperated. Crookshanks flexes his claws, as if to back her up. ‘You know, sometimes I think he forgets it’s not your job to drop everything and look after him.’

Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

Lyric:  Watch how a cold broken teen will desperately lean / On a superglued human of proof

Basically, Harry and Ginny are both - Lyric:  I can finally see / you’re as fucked up as me / so how do we win?

10. Talking to Myself // Gatlin

Quote: […]there’s no letter. She’s not heard from him in ten days.

Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

Lyric:  I got used to your voice / Like it was my own / Now there's kind of a void / I'm totally fine though

11. Fear of Water // Noah Kahan

Quote: She sits down on the bed, the weight of it all hitting her all at once. Puts her head in her hands, starts to cry.

[…]

‘The inquiry. The stupid inquiry. They’re going to do it in March. It’s - it's not a big deal, I don’t know why it’s all made me feel like this – sorry, I need to get some tissues – ’

Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

Lyric:  These tears aren't some sweet response to tragedy / Today I can't say why they fall / Honey, it's all chemical

12. Summer’s End – Spotify Singles // Phoebe Bridgers, Maria Taylor

Quote: ‘How was your Christmas, Ginny?’

Her head’s pounding. Her ankles keep buckling in these stupid boots. ‘It was shit,’ she shouts back, over the the thudding of the music, the laughter and shouting, far-off smashing of glass. ‘How was yours?’

Beasts, Chapter 9: wintering by whinlatter

Lyric:  Well I can see that you can't win for trying / And New Year's Eve is bound to leave you crying

and

Quote: There’s [a photograph] of her, one she hasn’t seen before – […] Strange, to see her own eyes soften, the scowl fall away, as she looks at the boy behind the camera, watching a feeling she has only ever felt and never seen.

Beasts, Chapter 8: bones by whinlatter

Lyric: The moon and stars hang out in bars just talking / I still love that picture of us walking

Note: The voicemail in the beginning is like a little bonus for Ginny’s forgotten birthday in Chapter 10.

Additionally, I think the resounding chorus of "come on home" can be read in multiple ways, Harry wanting Ginny to live with him, Ginny wanting her mother to pull through grief, and even Ginny talking to herself, to "come home" to her own body, which is why it's on Side B, not Side A.

13. Shine – Acoustic Version // Anna Nalick

Quote: Ginny –The inquiry is DEFINITELY happening. […] You’ll be offered anonymity for any testimony you give because you were underage. Don’t take it. The others won’t testify publicly if you don’t, you’re the one who can tell them what really happened and to properly make them fucking listen. The time for sitting on the fence is over. I want us to tell the world exactly what happened, I want to bring them down, I want them to pay for what they’ve done to us. So can you start replying to our letters please??? – Michael

Beasts, Chapter 12: scarecrow by whinlatter

Lyric:  Isn’t it time you got over how fragile you are?

Note: Anna Nalick’s song is much more supportively encouraging than Michael Corner’s letter, but, alas, Ginny does not get perfect mentors, just friends and allies trying to muddle through as best they can.

14. Better Days // Menna

Lyric:  When I break in the same place /And I′ve made the same mistakes / Wonder if I'll ever change / Or my heart′s just meant to ache

and

Lyric: I know there'll be better days / Even when I don't know how

Notes: I really wanted an anthem that wasn’t a love song on this playlist, because while her romance with Harry is important in Beasts (because, after all, romance is important in real life) it’s not the whole plot.  Ginny gets to be a full person with dynamic friendships and allies and goals, and she ultimately decides to keep trying for the future in every sense – trying with school, trying with quidditch, trying with Harry, and trying with the inquiry – even when she’s not sure how any of it will turn out okay in the end.

Also, Menna is a fantastic artist!  She’s got a number of really great songs – I especially recommend Sex in Public, Dynamite, and Didn’t Peak in High School.

15. I’m A Man // Nathan Evans, Foy Vance

Notes: This was the first song that made me want to make a Beasts playlist.  In a reversal from “i, carrion”, I originally thought of this as a Harry song, but ultimately realized that it’s Ginny all the way.  Yes, the lyrics are extremely male-gendered.  But it’s Ginny’s song.

Quotes: The entire letter Ginny sends to Harry in Chapter 12 [feels too long to quote]

and

She reads through both copies of her statement again - one for the court, one for Harry.

Beasts, Chapter 14: the vulture by whinlatter

Lyrics:  I'm a man, therefore I'm proud / And I hide away all my fears and doubts / And I hope that you'll never find me out

and

I've been struggling, I've been hurt / Guess that's what I thought I deserved / I got drunk to try and pretend I didn't care / And now I'm calling you for a truce / Finally ready to tell the truth / I can face it as long as I am here with you

16. Orpheus // Sara Bareilles

Quote: [….] ‘Is all that true?’

She swallows, mouth like sandpaper, finds she can’t speak.

‘Ginny, I’m serious, what was he talking about?’

[…]

She looks over at Harry. His head is in his hands.

Beasts, Chapter 14: the vulture by whinlatter

Lyric:  You miss the world / The one you knew / The one where everything made sense / Because you didn't know the truth

and

Don't stop / Trying to find me here amidst the chaos / Though I know it's blinding / There's a way out / Say out loud / We will not give up on love now

Notes: Whinlatter’s story is still ongoing, so this last song is where I think the story is heading.  I wanted to end on a song of hard-won hope, of not everything being okay but knowing you’re going to work towards it. 

~*~

Lastly, I just want to say that reading Whinlatter’s work has been an absolutely delight, and I’ve had so much fun putting together this playlist. I hope you get some enjoyment out of it, too.